Beauvillage Chronicles: Episode 5: Beating the Blues
by HarpieKing07
Summary: Beauvillage has fallen victim to a small case of Autumn Blues. The Tofu elders decide to do something about it, just as the young ones do. However that is so much harder to do, especially with Miles and Wisey having Blues of their own.
1. Chapter 1

**Beauvillage Chronicles**

**Episode 5: Beating the Blues**

**Chapter 1**

It was a fine noon in Beauvillage. The early November weather had been getting a bit colder during the nights, but the days were still fairly warm, even dispite the fact that there was very little sunlight during the day lately.

However, the occasional showers and the ensuing fogs seemed to cast a dull and gloomy atmosphere over the small town. An atmosphere, that seem to be taking its toll on the Beauvillagers.

People were moodier and seemed to sulk, or simply be too bored or sleepy to do much properly. This mood lasted since Monday and by the time it was Thursday, even a great Detective like Frederick Wiseman could not overlook it any longer.

"Look, Professor... this weather is turning Beauvillage into a city of gloom! There MUST be something we can do about it...! Just tell me what to do, and me and my men will handle the rest."he said into the phone, seated behind his desk in the office.

Fed up with simply watching the problem, and unable to find a solution on his own, he decided to consult a specialist. Which is why he called the Local Weather Service.

"_I´m sorry, Detective. But the forecasts indicate, that this weather will remain unchanged at least until the end of next week. Possibly even longer._"came the reply over the phone.

Wiseman immediately jumped to his feet, holding on to the phone in horror.

"End of next week?! But Professor, this is an emergency! The situation is getting worse by the day! Even _criminals _seem to be too sad to work properly - absolutely nothing happened since Halloween!"he ranted, pacing from side to side, turning around several times.

"_Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about the weather, Detective Wiseman. Other than wait for it to change. Maybe by the middle of next week it will, but personally I wouldn´t count on that._"said the Professor in a polite, but definite voice.

"Okay then... thank you, Professor."thanked Wiseman defeatedly.

The Professor bade him goodbye and hung up. With a long sigh Wiseman wanted to do the same, but instantly found out that he _couldn´t_.

As he was pacing up and down during the call, he managed to tangle himself into the telephone´s cable.

Trying to distangle himself, he twitched, jumped and spun violently... but all it did was entagle him even more... and even tighter! So tightly that he was having trouble breathing.

With a mighty yank, he managed to free his throat, but in doing so pulled the cable around his legs thighter. Losing balance he panicked and the entire office shook as he fell to the floor, taking the entire table along with him.

"Detective, are you all right?"came an alarmed voice as soon as the door was opened.

Finally freeing himself, he jumped up from behind the turned table and saw one of his trusty young subordinates - Daniel Rogers.

"Yes, yes... Daniel. I am fine."he said hastily.

Daniel smiled at him and at once started to help him place the table back.

"So what happened...?"he asked, fighting back a smile.

Wiseman shook his head.

"Nothing. Just a little accident with the phone. We really should get someone to fix that."

Daniel at once smiled widely.

"A phonecall? A case at last?"

Wiseman sighed and shook his head.

"I´m afraid not, Daniel... I´ve just had some bad news about the coming weather."

Daniel frowned.

"Oh... well... what can one expect in autumn. Too bad though. There´s nothing going on right now. The men are bored stiff."

Wiseman grumbled as he sat back into his seat.

"Not just the men... EVERYONE in Beauvillage!"

Daniel nodded sadly and turned to leave.

"Well... if a case comes up... be sure to let us know."

Wiseman snorted and bent a bit more on his comfortable chair.

"A case... that´s a good one."

He grumbled a bit more before taking a picture he had carefully placed on his table. A picture of a blond girl, smiling radiantly.

"Well... at least Candy will brighten things up for me. Crime or no crime."he muttered, taking solace in the fact, that for the very first time... he had a girlfriend.

And not just any girlfriend - the prettiest girl in town, crowned as Miss Beauvillage.

He had to admit, that eventhough he was fairly new in this dating business, the experience was really pleasurable.

He was pretty sure, that Candy would think of something even in this accursed weather.

„Maybe I should leave the station early today. There is nothing to do around here anyway..."he muttered, watching her photo.

He glanced at the clock on his table and let out a dissapointed sigh. It was still noon and her classes would end in _two hours_.

„Well... it couldn´t hurt to come and wait her after school, I suppose..."he mused.

Now there was only one simple question.

„What the hell am I going to do here for two more hours?!"

Suddenly the telephone rang, breaking the silence rather unpleasantly.

He yelped and jumped in his seat.

In a single movement, he jumped and snatched up the phone, his chair moving behind him.

„Beauvillage Police Station, Detective Wiseman speaking! What is the problem?! Robbery?! Theft?! Jail-walking?! Murder?! No case is unsolvable by our team!"

He said it all so fast, that he was out of breath once he finished. A giggle could be heared trough the phone as he panted, before jumping and going beet-red in the face.

„M-Mama?!"he exclaimed, praying that none of his men on the other side of the door had heared him.

„Y-yes... Fine, I guess..."he muttered, still red-faced and once again pacing up and down as he spoke.

„No, I don´t plan on it – I´m staying in Beauvillage. Why do you ask?"

His mother´s answer instantly made a wide smile appear on his face.

„R-really?! I... I forgot... I... Mama... does this mean that I can have a...?"

The second, longer answer made the smile vanish as fast as it appeared.

„Yes. Yes, of course... No, don´t worry... its nothing, really..."

He blew a sigh as a question was asked.

„Mama, you know I´m not picky about these things... Yes, I´ll leave it up to you... Yes... Yes... Okay... Bye."

His office door opened, just as he placed the phone down. Daniel was back, along with five more collagues, bright expressions on their faces.

„Detective, was that a call...?"

„A case?!"

„We finally have a case, Detective Wiseman?"

„**DETECTIVE!**"roared all six of them, thistime in fear, as another mighty thud shook the office again.

His head hung, Wiseman had tried to sit down, not even looking that the chair behind him was way back. Missing the chair completely, he fell quite loudly on his backside.  
Thistime however… he did not seem to mind… or _care_ for that matter.  
Sitting there with his head down, he heaved a long sigh – one that screamed of depression.

"Detective? What´s wrong?"asked Daniel delicately.

"Who was that call from, Detective?"asked another one.

"Something bad?"

Still not raising his head, Wiseman sighed again.

"Should´ve known…"he muttered.

The six policemen looked at eachother in confusion.

"Just like every…"Wiseman started, but suddenly he stiffened.

"Wait a minute!"he exclaimed, snapping his head up suddenly.

The policemen almost backed away, as their superior leapt to his feet and reached for the calendar, placed on the table.

They watched him look franticly at the calendar, flipping between this week´s page and the next. He tapped the next week´s page, right where the 10th November was.

"If I… and Beauvillage is no different… then that can only mean…"he muttered.

He placed the calendar back on the table and made his way towards his office door.

"Detective… what´s going on?"asked Daniel, as confused as the rest of them.

Wiseman turned, looking very serious.

"Don´t you _know_…?"

"NO!"all six of them answered at once, but it didn´t look as though the answer registered with him.

"Well, nevermind. Just keep an eye on things here. In the meantime, I will start making the preparations. I´m not letting him off so easily THISTIME."he exclaimed, balling his fist and turning.

As he turned, his head made a heavy collision with the door. Shaking his head, he opened them and positively ran out of the office, leaving his subordinates troughoutly confused.

"Well… at least we can never get bored with him around."muttered Daniel good-naturedly, much to the amused agreement of his collagues.

….

"Oh dear…"muttered Mom Tofu, watching the people on the street.

It was slightly foggy, which was something one could expect. The people on the market street were going about their business as usual, but they were going at it in a slow pace.

It was very apparent, that the gloomy weather has taken its toll.

"_Luckily, that is definitely not the case around our household._"she thought with a smile.

She was just getting back from Home-fix-it, where she brought lunch to her beloved husband. By the looks of it, the customers shared this gloomy mood and even Mr Workalot seemed to be quieter than usual.

"Violet…!"

She turned around and spotted Beth Hubbub heading towards her.

"Wait up. I´m on my way home myself."she said as she chaught up with her, two bags filled with groceries in her hands.

"You´re going home? Aren´t you busy around this time of the day?"asked Mom in surprise.

Beth shook her head with a sigh.

"Not so busy lately, Vi. There´s not much work at the moment, so I left the boys there to tend to things."she explained, referring to the two young men she had hired over a year ago.

"I don´t know… I suppose it's thanks to the weather, but we aren´t getting many customers into the Palace right now."

The two women were walking up the street towards their respective homes and they could see the somber mood of their fellow Beauvillagers as they went.

"You know… I did say, that we needed a small break after the Miss Beauvillage contest AND that Halloween stunt you Tofus had pulled, but things have really been getting dull around here."

Mom answered Beth´s thoughtfull musing with a confused look.

"Stunt…?"

Beth giggled, recalling the Halloween´s incident.

"Well… your Spirit of Pumpkins has stuck again."she said with a grin.

As for the past years on Halloween, The Tofu elders had conducted the "Green Sorcery" ritual from Balthazar Bunglewood´s book. Thistime however, they were joined by quite a few older citizens of Beauvillage, including Mayor Haveitall.  
None of them knew, that the young ones have decided to throw a special Halloween costume party of their own in Beauvillage Park, and that The Brotherhood of the Wise would try to stop them.  
The matter quickly got out of hand and a wacky chain of events followed. Everything ended up well, but it was certain that this year´s Halloween would be one, Beauvillagers would remember for a very long time.

"Well… no one can´t say that it wasn´t interesting. Sure beats _this_ situation."said Beth, as another Beauvillager came past them.

Mom only nodded solemny, but suddenly a bright expression crossed her features.

"In that case… we should do something to brighten things up."

Beth looked both curious and skeptical.

"I´m not sure, if there is anything that can be done, Vi. Afterall, if its because of the weather… or… Do you Tofus actually know of some way to make the weather go better?"she finished looking incredulous.

Mom giggled.

"Of course not, Beth. There´s no such thing. BUT, we CAN do the next best thing?"

Beth raised an eyebrow.

"Which is what?"

Mom simply shrugged.

"I´m not sure yet. But if all of us sit down today and put our heads together, maybe we can find a solution."

Beth smiled, finding the optimism inviting.

"All right then. I´ll get Titus and come along in the afternoon."

Mom nodded happily.

"You´ll see – we´ll figure something out."

Beth giggled.

"We´d _better_. Before the kids think of something too…"

….

The atmosphere in the classroom of Beauvillage Elementary was very similar to that of the mood outside.  
Having only one more class to go, the young ones couldn´t wish the end of school more heartedly.  
Most were chatting with one another boredly, or simply sat behind their desks boredly.

There were exceptions though. Phil had left the classroom the moment the bell rang, eager to meet up with his new girlfriend. Emily, similary eagerly, was sitting and chatting with Archie, while Nick and Mia were going trough the homework Starchy had left them yesterday and were positively growling at eachother.

Oliver, Liam, Peter and Maurice were however looking confusedly to the back to the class, where Chloe was standing and was giggling at something.

Approoaching they saw that she was standing before Chichi´s desk, on which her diskman lay disassembled.

With a look of utter seriousness on his face, Chichi extended his left hand towards April, who was sitting beside him and giggling as well, while holding something like a pencase.

"Little screwdriver."he said in a stiff voice.

With another giggle, April pulled a tiny screwdriver out of the pencase and placed it into Chichi´s hand, the blonde at once applying it to the diskman.

"What´s going on here?"asked Oliver as he and the boys approached.

With a giant grin, Chloe made a shushing gesture.

"Shh. We shouldn´t disturb the machine-doctor, while he´s attempting to save my poor diskman."

Oliver rolled his eyes.  
He was trying to cheer Chloe up since morning, when she came in and told him, that her precious diskman was busted. And though he tried many ways, including suggesting to buy her a new one, but to no avail. But it looked like she was more than cheerfull NOW!

"Think he´ll be able to fix something that´s completly busted?!"he asked, trying to mask his annoyance.

Chloe grinned as Chichi looked more closely at his work and reached out to April again.

"Handkerchief."

Instead of the pencase, April reached into her pocket and pulled out a pure-white handkerchief.  
Chichi took it and placed one corner of it infront of his mouth and licked it. Gently, he applied it to some of the parts there, before turning it around and running them over with the dry part. Grabbing the tiny screwdriver again, he once more applied it to some places and reached to April again.

"Cover."

In a matter of moments, he put the disassembled diskman back together. Opening the cover, he placed the CD that was in it before he began. He pressed the "_ON_" button and pressed "_PLAY_".

At once, music started to play from the tiny speakers from the upper sides of the cover, which was one of the features of this particural model.

Chloe cheered in happiness as the melody played quietly.

"Well... that´s that. I am pleased to inform, that the _operation _was a success - it should play fine now."said Chichi happily.

With an excited wail, Chloe quickly threw her arms around Chichi´s neck.

"You´re awesome! Thanks, Doctor Chichi."

Oliver scrowled at the sight, while Chichi chuckled.

"You should thank Nurse April too."he said with a wink at April, who giggled blushingly.

"I told you - Chichi can fix anything."she said happily, thistime making Chichi blush.

Oliver scrowled again, but the other boys only fixed them a "_Is that all_" look.

Chloe embraced both her and Chichi as listened to the music playing from the CD.

Chichi´s face at once sported his infamous smile.

"Alex Complex? _Only in movies?_"

Chloe grinned happily.

"You guessed it."

"Cool."

The pair of them waited for the chorus and began singing along with their favoure band´s song.

April giggled. Though she was definitely no fan of the said band, or music, it was refreshing to see her two friends sing their favourite song so happily - much better than the dull mood lately.

The boys however had a much different opinion of the situation. Peter, Maurice and Liam only rolled their eyes and went back to their desks grumbling, while Oliver´s scrowl became even more promounced.

"You know, you should turn that thing off."he said in distaste.

Chloe looked at him confusedly.

"Why? Its our favourite song."

Oliver shook his head, frowning.

"Yeah, but you don´t have to sing around in here, like you´re at a concert."

Thistime Chichi fixed him an incredulous look.

"Come on, dude - what´s wrong with a little singing?"

Oliver shot him a glare.

"Nothing."he muttered, though his tone of voice suggested the complete opposite.

Chloe however glared him back.

"Well excuse _me _for being happy about my diskman being repaired and for enjoying a song I like with someone who likes it too."

Oliver shook his head.

"Chloe, that´s not what I..."

But she cut him off, glaring him coldly as she stood up.

"Oh, I know _exactly_, what you meant!"

She swept to the front schooldesk, which she occupied with Oliver since morning and gathered her belongings, before going back towards Chichi´s desk. Passing Oliver, she humphed and proceeded to sit at the desk that was right before Chichi´s.

Oliver looked as though he was just slapped, but Chloe took no note of it and turned to Chichi.

"So Chichi... did you hear about the upcoming Jumpers album?"she asked, paying absolutely no attention to her best friend.

Chichi looked a bit uncomfortable, but answered regardless.

"Yeah... I did as a matter of fact. Actually, Roger and Melanie are to send me the CD once its out of production next week."

The information made her gasp excitedly.

"You mean, its already ready?"

Chichi grinned at her.

"You betcha. They finished the last song just yesterday."

"Wow... COOL!"she exclaimed happily.

Oliver growled at the eager chatter, turned and left back to the front of the class. April and Chichi watched him, sharing an uneasy look before looking at Chloe.

"You know... that was a bit mean..."said April.

Chloe however shook her head.

"No, April - it wasn´t. He´s been moaning and grumping since morning. Like almost everyone around."

April and Chichi nodded, knowing well what she meant.

April was about to say something, but right at that moment Phil sprinted into the classroom, as though running for dear life.

"Phil! What´s...?"started Chloe, but Phil quickly shook his head and sat down right beside her.

"Get your Geography stuff out! Starchy is coming and she´s in a very bad mood."

He didn´t have to say anymore for the other three to know what that meant - big trouble.

A moment later, the dreaded deputy-principal, AKA _The Terror of Beauvillage Elementary _walked into the classroom, at once barking at Nick and Mia, who were still arguing.

"Jeez Phil... that was an understatement - she´s on a warpath."whispered Chloe, loud enough for April and Chichi to hear.

Chichi moaned and lowered his head.

"Great... And its Geography..."

It was common knowledge, that Chichi was not exactly friends with the subject. Though he had pretty decent marks in it, it was simply the giant weakpoint of the Beavillage´s boy-genius.

April placed a consoling hand on his shoulder.

"There there, Chichi honey-bun... I´ll help you with it."she whispered soothingly.

"Thanks, April."he whispered back with a grateful smile.

Turning back to see, that Starchy was still too busy ranting about something, he chanced whispering to April again.

"_When _are you going to _stop _calling me that?"

April stiffled a giggle and fixed him a mischievous look.

"Never."she whispered happily, winking at him.

The lesson all in itself was a troughoutly unpleasant ordeal. Mildred Starchy also seemed to be affected by the gloomy weather, and it seemed to have made her even more unpleasant than she already was.

So unpleasant, that the moment she had left the classroom, many students did not hesitate to leave either, her lesson being the final lesson of the day.

"Sheesh... we really need to do something - this weather is driving everyone nuts."said Chloe, placing her notebook into her backpack.

"You can say that again. But what...?"nodded April.

Phil, Chloe and April looked at Chichi, who had his arms folded. He shot them an apologetic grin.

"I´m drawing a blank too, sorry."

The three of them goaned in dissapointment, being sure that the boy-genius would have something up his sleeve.

"But... I think we should get together with Lola, Lily, Billy and Miles. This maybe too much just for us, but if we all put our heads together... we just might find some way to snap Beauvillage from the autumn-blues."

The three nodded happily, knowing that he was right.

...

**A/N:** Hi... well its been a long time, so I´ve returned to the Chronicles. As promised last time, thistime around I will try to keep the episode to a shorter one. I will also try to add chapters in a reasonable pace, though since I´m also working on two other stories at the moment, it still might take some time, so bear with me. I hope that you will find this one as funny, entertaining and cool as the previous ones. As always, any comments are greatly appretiated and welcome. So without further ado, let´s go for another Beauvillage ride. :)

**HK07**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The afternoon weather turned even more foggy and depressive. The now-most infamous blue van practicly flew across _Sunflower Street_, heading towards the most known house in Beauvillage.

Coming to a screeching halt, tha van stopped and a second later a person jumped out of it.  
Michael Miles stretched, raising his arms high into the air and releasing an animalistic sound.

"Boy... that drive from Cygnuville really takes it out of you. Oh well... _business_."

Without another word, he proceeded towards the front door of the Tofu Household.

Opening the door, he gasped at the sight he saw.

There, in the living room, were Mom and Pop Tofu, Buba, Bee, Beth and Titus - all sitting on the ground in strange positions, with their eyes closed and seemingly in a kind of trance.  
It looked like one of the Tofu family´s ussual yoga-sessions... but what were the Hubbubs doing there?!

He came closer, and saw that while Beth took to the yoga-thing quite nicely, Titus seemed to have fallen asleep in his simple, sitting position.

He shrugged and quietly made his way towards them. He set himself next to Pop Tofu, copying his position of standing on the head.

"Hey, Pops..."he whispered, not wanting to disturb the quiet atmosphere in the room.

"Hello, Miles."breathed Pop Tofu quietly, a smile on his face.

"What´s this yoga-session about...?"he asked in equal volume.

Just then, Bee gave out a rather loud scream, making all of them open their eyes.  
Titus even jumped a little, looking around to see what the commotion was about.

"Oh, Great Oneness... give us the wisedom to find our solution..."

"Great Oneness... help us find the answer...!"chanted Mom Tofu from her own position.

"YEAH! Great Oneness! Tell us what to do!"boomed Miles.

With some difficulty, he turned his head towards Pop Tofu.

"What are we trying to do anyway?!"

His question promted Beth and Bee to giggle, while Buba and Mom Tofu opened their eyes and fixed him a smile.

"We´re trying to think of a way to snap our townsfolk from depression, Miles."explained Beth.

Miles fixed them all an upside-down confused look.

"What are they depressed about?! Pay-day was just yesterday!"

"Well, since the weather was so gloomy lately, it seems to be reflecting on the people´s mood."said Buba.

"Oh... so... you want to brighten things up, right?"

Mom Tofu and Beth nodded.

"Yes. Only that we don´t know what to do yet."said Beth good-naturedly.

"So we´re having this ritual in order to get in touch with the Great Oneness and find a solution."

"Cool! Count me in!"boomed Miles before closing his eyes and humming in a trance-like state.

For a while, they just hummed like that... each searching for a solution to the problem... maybe except Titus who has fallen asleep again and actually gave out a snore.

"I´VE GOT IT!"exclaimed Beth, Bee and Mom Tofu together.

At the loud awakening Titus jumped from his position and ended up sprawled on his stomach.

Unbeknowst to anyone in the room, Titus wasn´t the only one at having such a reaction.

Outside, a man jumped from his position on the tree and with a small yelp fell down, landing rather painfully on HIS stomach.

Detective Wiseman goaned, half in anger - half in pain and reached for his binoculars.

Even without them, he could see Miles trough the window.

"Just you wait! This year I´ll land you in prision - TILL YOU ROT!"

As he exclaimed that, it attracted the attention of the Tofus´ rooster, who promtly flew up and started to peck him on the head... forcing him to retreat for the moment.

...

Contrary to what one might expect, _Club-horse _(Beauvillage´s only teenager club) was open even in such a depressive time.

Many teenagers, younger or older refused to mope around their respective homes and at least tried to get out and have some fun with their friends... however... not to much success.

Laughter was a rarity even here.  
Different groups of friends were simply sitting behind their tables, chatting boredly and simply sipping their drinks, or... and this was a sure sign of how serious the situation was... doing homework in small groups.

One table was however filled with something that every other table was missing. The single large table in the very back of the room, fit for eight people had an air of bright and optimistic mood in the air.

Lola and Chichi were sitting next to eachother, going over something on a small bunch of papers, talking brightly.  
April and Chloe were also chatting, but apparently about something completly else - both were giggling and, from time to time shot a glance on their blonde-haired classmate, who seemed to be too preoccupied by his work to notice.  
Lily Robins and Billy Hubbub came to them a moment later, both bringing the drinks and snacks that everyone ordered.

The Tofu siblings looked up from the paper the moment Lily and Billy sat down ( Billy at once sitting on Lola´s other side), flashing them grateful smiles.

"Finally. Some _real _snacks for a change. Haven´t had these since Halloween."muttered Lola, giving her boyfriend with a kiss on his cheek and helping herself to some _Gummy Balls _\- a rather popular snack in Beauvillage.

The rest of the table merely chuckled, being well aware that the Tofu siblings are highly unlikely to enjoy these around their house.

Chichi also helped himself to some and went back to the paper, a happy smile on his face as he saveoured the taste.

"Sorry we´re late, guys."came a new voice, making them all look to the newcomer.

Or rather... newcomers.

Phil just arrived, hand-in-hand with his girlfriend.  
Nicolette, a really pretty girl with long wavy red hair was a year older than Phil, Chichi, April and Chloe and was taller than her boyfriend. She was one of those, who had come to Beauvillage only recently ( two or three years ago), but the gang made it a point when she and Phil began to date, to make her feel included and welcome.

"No worries, guys. We haven´t even started yet - we were waiting for you to come along."said Chichi pleasantly, waving his hand neglectedly.

In a gentlemanly gesture, Phil quickly moved and pushed the chair for Nicolette to sit down, something that she awared with an affectionate smile that made him go brick-red.

"I... I´ll go get the drinks..."he muttered quickly and moved to the bartable, careful not to look anywhere near Chichi or Lily - the latter of which was stiffening a giggle.

April and Lola exchanged small smirks before looking meaningfully at Chichi, who quickly busied himself with the paper again.

Phil returned a moment later, carrying two full glasses of _Super Tutti-Fruity Shake _\- THE tastiest and most expensive drink around.

"Allright. Now that everyone is here - the meeting is in session."

Chichi´s statement was at once answered with bright interest from most.

"So… what are we going to do about the… _situation_?"asked Chloe while looking for a small moment to the very front of the club, where Oliver, Liam, Maurice and a few other boys from their class were sitting behind a table, sipping their drinks and looking bored stiff.

Nicolette brushed some of her dark red hair from her eyes and fixed a skeptical look on all of them.

"What CAN we do? The stupid weather is to blame - we can´t just _command_ it to get better."

"Well, there are other ways we can use to brighten the situation."said April, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"But what? This will obviously need some big-bang solution. I mean… its not like a simple party can solve this."mused Chloe, now fully concentrating on the problem.

"I don´t know ´bout that. That "_Rite of Spring_" party a few years back was a really memorable one."offered Lily, still remembering the event with a smile.

Everyone else in fact – it was one of the first actual large parties that were thrown in their class.  
Even three years after the event, everyone who was present there still remembered how cool it was to have an actual house-party for an entire night. They even remembered all the little interferences from the elder Tofus and the family pets with a laugh.

"Rite of Spring?"asked Nicolette curiously.

Phil turned to her with a warm smile.

"You didn´t live in Beauvillage back then…"

He, Lily and Chloe quickly recounted the events of that night to her, making the others chuckle and laugh at some of the parts.

"Well… that sounds… _interesting_…"said Nicolette once they finished, though clearly finding the notion a bit weird.

"A mega-party does sound like a good idea."said Billy, mulling the idea over.

"Yeah, but it can only be done on weekend. And once the weekend is over, we´ll be back-to-square-one."countered Lily.

Chichi cleared his throat meaningfully, once again calling for attention.

Sharing a nod with her brother, Lola quickly rummaged through her purse, pulling out a few clear papers.

"Me and Chichi thought, that we should all write down our own, separate ideas and then try to piece them into something meaningfull."

"Everyone – including the two of us – write down five ideas on what we should do. _Anything_ – any idea that you can think of… even if it sounds stupid to you, it may give us a hint."said Chichi, nodding encouragingly.

Even Nicolette found the bright encouragement inviting and along with Phil reached for a piece of paper and one of the pens, that Chichi placed into the middle of the table.

For a long moment, no one spoke a word.  
Everyone was thinking their hardest, occasionally writing their ideas down.

Chloe and April were the first, who placed their pens down and passed their papers towards Chichi, who placed them down neatly beside his left hand.

The two papers were soon joined by that of Lola´s, Billy´s, Chichi´s own, Lily´s, Phil´s and finally Nicolette´s.

"Okay. Now, let´s go over these ideas and see what we come up with."said Chichi, grabbing the stack and separating the papers, while Lola prepared another piece of paper to summarize things.

…

"Wow. If all this works, every teenager in Beauvillage will have something to look forward to."said Lola, as she walked up their street hand-in-hand with Billy.

Coming along with them were Chichi, who had his nose buried in the notes of the final ideas, and Lily who was coming along, so that she could see Miles at the Tofu household.

"You´ve said it. And even if it doesn´t work, we can at least say that we tried."nodded Billy optimisticly.

"Much better than simply sit around being bored."said Lily.

Lola couldn´t help but giggle.

"Its kinda strange to hear you or Chichi EVER being bored. I thought, that you would use the time to continue writing your book, and that this little squirt would barricade himself in the Hidehole."

Chichi rolled his eyes at his sister´s gentle teasing and fixed her a look from the papers.

"There´s not much to do there now, since I´ve prepared it for the winter. Except basic maintenance that´s way too easy to do, so it doesn´t keep me occupied for long. Besides – Miles has been busy with Lily, Phil with Nicolette, and I don´t have any new project to work on right now."

"Hm… maybe you should follow their example, little brother. _Especially_ since you now have TWO girls chasing after you."said Lola very slyly.

Billy stiffened a chuckle and Lily gave out a giggle as Chichi´s face went scarlet almost instantly.

"I… I have no idea what you´re talking about…"muttered the younger Tofu, quickly hiding his face in the papers again.

The older teens continued to laugh even as they reached the Tofus´ front door.

Once walking in, their laughter seized at once.

Instead, they all looked confusedly at the scene infront of them.

Mom, Buba, Bee and Beth were all cheering and dancing to the music played by Pop on his trusty guitar and Miles on his saxophone.  
Even Curly, Cracker and Suzy were joining in, jumping around and making additional noises to the song.  
Only Titus was sitting. He sat comfortably in Pop´s favorite sofa-chair and was reading the newspaper. Once in a while he peeked from it, rolling his eyes and returning the paper and only then one could see, that he had put earplugs in his ears.

Lola almost immediately slapped her free hand on her forehead, rolling her eyes just like Titus has.

"Oh, brother…"

"Nothing like a quiet evening at home, huh?"remarked Chichi, already starting to chuckle a bit.

Billy and Lily also chuckled and even Lola couldn´t help but give out a small giggle.

Mom Tofu and Beth quickly noticed them, both giving the teens small waves along with their fondest smiles.

"Well… its nice to see, that you little sunflowers are as cheerful as always."said Mom happily, as soon as Pop and Miles stopped playing.

"The same goes for you guys."said Lola, shaking her head with a smile.

"Its nice that you´ve found a way to keep your spirits up."nodded Billy with a grin, as though the notion of playing music or dancing in the house was absolutely normal and perfectly understandable.

"But of course..."boomed Miles in a mock-proper voice, before jumping into the air and playing another short tune from his trusty instrument.

As he played, he made several "hip" poses, that left everyone around chuckling, before dropping to his knees before his giggling girlfriend, finally finishing his tune and looking up at Lily with a giant grin.

"Afterall... who could possibly be depressed when he´s got _M G &amp; F G_...?"

Everyone looked at him curiously.

"What´s _MG&amp;FG_?"asked Lola.

Still on his knees Miles fixed her a serious look, as though everyone in the world should know what the letters stand for.

"Music..."he started, showing her his saxaphone.

"Greed..."he said, showing the inner pocket of his vest, where several bills could be seen sticking out of it.

"Aaaand... of course... my lovely Flower-girl..."he finished dramaticly turning to Lily with his arms open wide.

Lily´s smile could not possibly get any bigger. In one swift motion she grabbed her boyfriend in a bear-hug, rewarding the comment with a loving kiss.

Buba, Bee, Mum and Beth all "_awwed_" at the exchange, while Pop, Chichi and Billy smiled in earnest... even Titus peeked from his newspaper, the paper hiding a small smile.

"Oh, brother... "Lola giggled, definitely more appretiative than exaspirated at Miles´ theatrics.  
Afterall, she could not remember her best friend EVER so happy before... since she began dating the "greediest" person in Beauvillage.

Not long after that exchange, everyone moved to the kitchen and was enjoying the dinner.

Which was saying something, since many of the guests weren´t particurally fond of Mom and Buba´s cooking.

Thistime however, the dinner menu held a very special treat.

"Hurray! _Chowda!_"boomed Miles happily, not waiting a second and digging into the bowl - his most favourite bowl, that Buba had made not long after he began to live with them.

The others digged into the tasty herbal dish with equal vigour... even Beth, who savoured the taste happily... and even...

"Gee, Dad... I thought this bio-organic food wasn´t your thing."said Billy, wiggling his eyebrows at his father, who was enjoying the meal happily.

Titus fixed his son a serious look.

"THIS is an exception! A RARE exception!"

Mom, Pop and Buba all looked at eachother and surpressed a chuckle.

They knew, better than anyone, that Titus was still trying to put-up a tough-front... even after he mellowed out and actually made friends with them.

The young ones knew as much too, sharing a laugh that the elder Hubbub let slide.

"Anyway... we - all of us figured out a plan to help Beauvillage out of this dark mood..."said Bee unexpectadly.

The teens almost chocked on their food - Lola and Chichi already had an inckling what this might mean.

"Oh, yes! We made up several good plans to brighten up the mood and once again bring harmony into our humble little town."added Mom Tofu, already overjoyed by the prospect.

Lily and Billy quickly looked at eachother, knowing what **this** means.

"With everything that we planned - we´ll have this town livened up in no time."

Billy´s mouth fell as he heared his mother say those words.  
He was astounded, that she actually went along with anything Mom Tofu and Bee could have come up for such a situation.

"And we´ll help, of course."announced Pop, gesturing to him and Titus.

"Uh-oh."muttered Lola.

Friends they may be now, but asking Titus to assist with some crackpot plan was kinda pushing the limits...

"Sure thing."

"**WHAAT?!**"

Lily´s mouth fell open, but it was nothing compared to the stunned looks of Chichi, Lola and Billy.

Titus folded his arms and grinned at the expressions, while the other elders chuckled.

"I told you - a rare exception."he added simply.

"Plus… we can get some serious _business_ done in the process. ´M I right, old man Titus?"said Miles happily, giving Titus a thumbs-up.

Billy goaned, as his father returned the gesture with equal emotion.

"Now we know, how they got _these_ two on their team."muttered Lola so quietly, that only her boyfriend could hear.

She did not even have to bother to lower her voice, because the elders were now talking about their plans very spiritedly, in most cases misinterpreting the looks on Chichi´s and Lily´s faces.

"… and if that won´t work, we can just use Bee´s plan."said Beth, finishing her lengthy explanation.

Mom Tofu and Bee nodded happily.

"We have more than enough plans. This way, we´ll be able to keep the spirits up, way until the 10th November."Mom summarized.

Miles, who was busily eating his Chowda suddenly chocked.  
Coughing and sputtering, he banged the table with his spoon-free hand, trying to catch his breath.

"Miles!"exclaimed almost everyone at the table.

Lily quickly came to the rescue, slapping his back hard.  
So hard in fact, that she winced in pain and waved her hand in the air to soothe it.

It worked nonetheless.  
Still coughing a little, Miles managed to catch his breath, bowing his head a little in the process.

"Are you okay?"asked Lily as soon as he calmed down.

When he raised his head however, he had a strange expression on his face.

"Y-yeah. I-I´m fine, Lil…"he said weakly, before rising from his chair.

He turned and started to walk out of the kitchen, towards the garden.

"Where are you going?"asked Lola confusedly – he had never done something like this before.

"Was it something we said?"asked Mom Tofu in equal confusion.

Stopping for a moment, Miles turned to look at them all.  
His strange look was gone, replaced by his usual smile.

"´Course not. I just need some fresh air, that´s all."

With that, he turned and walked out into the garden.

There was a small moment of silence in the kitchen, as he left.

Mom Tofu quickly cleared her throat.

"Well… anyway, we were hoping that you little sparrows will also help us with all this."

THAT brought the teens back to the problem.

"Yes. It's a good idea."nodded Beth.

"And its for a good cause."added Pop Tofu.

Lola quickly shared a look with her brother.

"Here we go again."muttered Chichi, goaning a bit.

"Grand embarrassment – here we come."muttered Lola, slapping her forehead.

…..

The Tofus´ garden was always a very nice place to be in, even after having a bad day.

Thistime however, Miles did not enjoy the nice sense of calm it offered.

Sitting on one of the trees – his most favorite in the garden – he was settled quite comfortably above the ground, overlooking both the garden and the street behind it.

He was smoking his third cigarette by now. In his other hand was a small tattered handbook.

Every now and then, he flipped the page to the next one, taking another puff from his cigarette as he did.

Looking at the page he had open now, he gave out a long, deep sigh.

"Oh well... guess its too late now..."

As he took the cigarette into his mouth again, he peeked into the kitchen window.  
He could just see inside. Lola and Chichi could be seen talking to Mom and Pop Tofu. Something Pop just said, or sang got the two siblings laughing - a moment later, all four Tofus could be seen laughing.

Miles turned his head away, blowing out smoke in the process.

"Well... looks like that will never change..."

He finished his cigarette and carefully stored the waste in a small wooden box made for such a purpose by Pop Tofu.

Looking at it for a moment and then peeking into the handbook, he let out one final long sigh.

Once he raised his head however, there was a wild grin on his face.

"In that case, time to do what I do every year. **This** means _business_!"

...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter ****3**

The next day´s weather was once again gloomy, and was even upgraded by a heavy rain. Dispite this however, the day at Beauvillage Elementary school had actually gone pretty fine. Maybe because of the fact, that it was Friday, and everyone was looking forward to the weekend, no matter how dull it would be.

But all trough the day, the entire class (as well as the entire school) could hear the sound of a police siren. It could be heared all trough the day from time to time. Almost as if a police car was circling around the town.  
It was so persistant, that it seemed to have roused the student body to life and by the time the final lesson had come, there were already many wild theories going around.

The siren also had a profound effect on Mrs Starchy, who instantly worked herself up into a towering temper when the siren "_disrupted_" her Geography lesson, further living up the last lesson of the week. But not exactly in a good way...

As the bell rang, a heavily red-faced Chichi walked back to his desk from the blackboard - the derisive laughter of Nick, Tex, Archie, Mia and Oliver ringing in the wake.

"A well deserved **F**, Chichi! And I´m warning you - I´ll be testing you on this again, the first thing next lesson! And if you DARE give me such stupid answers again, I´ll add a detention into the bargain as well! Class dismissed!"

Chichi mumbled shame-facedly as he finally reached his desk, and Mrs Starchy gathered her things at the teacher´s desk. She was so angry, that she completly forgot to give them their weekend homework. Instead, she stormed out of the classroom, snapping the door after her.

Not even bothering to put his stuff in order, Chichi sat down and practicly smacked his head onto his schooldesk, giving out a long defeated sigh.  
Phil, April and Chloe were at once at his side.

"Don´t take it so hard, pal. You tried your best."said Phil soothingly.

"_My best_, Phil?! Who are you kidding?! THAT was an epic-fail!"Chichi moaned in responce, not even raising his head.

"You just lost your head. That´s all. You did all right in the begining..."said April, at once placing a consoling hand on his back.

"Yeah! And old Starchy deliberately made it difficult for you - we haven´t even covered half of the stuff she asked."nodded Chloe, also trying to cheer him up.

Chichi mumbled something incoherent in responce, which only made April move closer to him.

"Oh, come on... You weren´t _that _bad, _Chichi honey-bun_..."she said, thistime using the pet-name purposely, trying to get him to raise his head from the desk at least.

All three knew, it was serious, when their blonde-haired friend didn´t even respond.

"**HEY, TOOOOFU!**"

The well-known teasing voice instantly made Chichi look up and fix a glare to the door, where most of the class was lined up, already prepared to leave.  
Nick was sporting a thorougly gleefull smile - one that was mirrored upon the faces of Tex, Archie and Mia.

"Thanks a lot for taking the fall! You pissed-off Starchy so much, she didn´t even give us homework..."

"Can´t blame her for being so pissed though. The so-called Boy-genius... and he doesn´t even know, where _Madagascar _is!"chided Mia, adding insult to injury.

The rest of the class roared in laughter.

Chichi narrowed his eyes and growled in rage, his face burning in shame again.  
Indeed, Starchy springed that question on him so fast and so surprisingly, that he was chaught off-guard and shakingly placed the island on the other side of the globe.

"SHUT UP, MIA!"roared April, at once shooting a death-glare at her.

"You´d better stick close to him, April. With his _genius _sence of geography, he might just get lost on his way home."

The entire group roared in laughter again, as they all started to leave the classroom. The brotherhood laughed in earnest, and Nick was clearly very pleased, judging by the fact that he gave Mia a kiss on the cheek so openly in front of everyone.

"Good one, blondie."

Emily, Abbygail, Liam and Maurice looked uneasily between the large group and the small one at Chichi´s side, shooting them apologetic looks before following.  
Oliver however laughed like crazy and followed without a second thought - something that made Chloe´s face turn to one of disgusted rage.

She didn´t leave Chichi´s side though.  
Especially not, since Chichi instantly banged his head back on his desk once everyone was gone.

"Forget about them, Chichi. So Geography is not your subject - who CARES?! You can do all sorts of stuff, these morons can´t even dream of!"

Chichi mumbled something in responce, but Chloe instantly gave him a light slap over the head, making him look up again.

"And don´t you _dare _try to deny it, mister! You always come trough when everyone needs it. So don´t let these idiots get you down over a little thing like Geography!"

Phil at once nodded staunchly.

"She´s right, dude. You can do all kinds of cool stuff. And besides, no one can be good in everything."he said, April nodding fervently.

Chichi sighed, looking at the open Geography book on his desk.

"But this is the second **F **I got in the last _two weeks_. If I keep this up, I´ll fail the damn subject."

He barely got the words out of his mouth, before Chloe snatched up the book, and gave him another light slap over the head with it.

"No, you won´t. What d´you think friends are for, dummy?!"

Chichi looked from one to the other, as though he just became aware of the fact.

"Right. We won´t let you fail this! We´ll help you!"nodded Phil.

"We´ll tutor you day and night if we have to."added April.

This, finally made a small smile erupt on Chichi´s face. Suddenly, he seemed to be all right again. He got up and started to gather his stuff from his desk, placing them in his backpack.

He grew considerably more cheerful as they exited their classroom.

"So Chichi... which plan are we going to use this weekend? Y´know... to fight the Autumn Blues?"asked Chloe, as they gathered their stuff from their lockers.

"I dunno, Chloe. After what these guys just pulled?! I´d rather leave them mope around all weekend."said April, instantly narrowing her eyes at the sight of their classmates; all of whom, for some reason were standing at the school´s bulletin board.

"What´s everyone looking at?"asked Phil curiously.

Whatever it was, it was making everyone really happy. In fact, several girls gave out small cheers.  
And as they approached, Chichi, April, Phil and Chloe could see, that there weren´t just their classmates present at the bulletin board, but also a few other kids from lower grades.

Everyone was looking ecstasicly on a large poster, and the foursome caught a few remarks of "finally", "cool" and words to that effect.

The foursome worked their way forward, seeing a large poster on the bulletin board.

"_Beauvillage Autumn Festival?_"asked April, reciting the large title on the poster.

"What the...? A Beauvillage-style festival, filled with fun, excitement and surprises."read Chloe.

"Various dates and places around Beauvillage..."said another girl in the crowd in a completly excited voice.

"Starting Saturday... that´s tommorow!"said another of the teens.

"Yeah! _Starting Saturday - a surprise every day! _Cool!"exclaimed Liam excitedly, raising his right arm into the air happily.

Everyone around the bulletin-board joined in, doing the same gesture and cheering - expressing their excitement over the prospect of something finally going on in Beauvillage.  
Everyone except...

"Chichi...?"asked April, looking at him in concern.

Chichi was looking at the poster, his mouth open in shock.

"Uh-oh..."he muttered, almost swaying on the spot.

Phil, Chloe and April shared uneasy looks, as Chichi slapped a hand to his forehead.

"And I thought Geography was bad enough..."he muttered, already knowing what this means.

...

Lola, Billy and Lily were quickly walking home from school.

They wasted not a moment, once the final lesson ended. Before the last lesson, their entire class (and by the sound of it, the entire school) saw a giant poster on the bulletin-board.  
And though everyone was looking forward to the _Autumn Festival _with bright interest, Lola knew that the situation was serious.

"I kinda expected the elders to figure something out, but certainly nothing like this..."said Billy, as they walked, his umbrella shielding both him and Lola from the rain.

"Definitely not something so large..."nodded Lily, who walked beside the pair of them, with her own umbrella.

"I think we have your boyfriend to thank for that."muttered Lola.

As they took a turn toward their street, a van flew past them in such speed that all three of them had to jump as far away from the road as possible to avoid being splashed.

Lola growled, knowing full-well who THAT must have been.

"How many times have I told him NOT to drive around Beauvillage like a maniac?!"she growled, both Billy and Lily also nodding in agreement.

A moment later, they were approaching Sunflower street, the Tofu house already in their view.

"Hey... is that...?"muttered Lily, stopping in her tracks.

Billy and Lola stopped too. The sound was growing louder and louder - the sound of a police siren.  
Not a moment later, the sound became as loud as one of Titus Hubub´s famous alarms.  
A police car practicly flew past them, making them jump away from the road again.

The car came to a screeching halt infront of the Tofu House.  
Lola, Billy and Lily exchanged surprised looks and moved closer, their eyes glued on the police car.

The car remained in place, its motor still running, but suddenly a mighty scream roared out of it - a scream, that was heared even over the rain and the motor.

In a second, the car reversed, turned around and sped off, in the same direction it came from.  
The trio had to jump away from the road again, as the car raced past them in top speed again, the sound of the siren ringing like crazy.

Lily, Lola and Billy all sighed. They knew full-well, who that scream belonged to... and who was in that car.

"Great. First Miles and now _Wiseman _too?!"said Lola, slapping her forehead.

They finally reached the house, entering into the kitchen and happy to get out of the rain at least.

One simple look inside made them realize, that the situation was even _more _serious than they thought...  
They were greeted by a sight of a packed-full kitchen - various objects and boxes everywhere.  
Mom and Buba were seated at the table, along with Bee and even April and Chloe - they seemed to be making something out of the various flowers on the table.  
"Ah, welcome back, sweet seedlings."greeted Mom, at once beaming at the three of them, as they placed their umbrellas down.

They couldn´t help but return the warm smile, as they approached the table.

"What are these supposed to be?"asked Lola, looking at once of the flower ornaments that were being prepared.

"They´re little talismans for tommorow."answered April brightly, who just like Mom, Buba, Bee and Chloe had one of these flowery circles on her head; it looked like a headband of colorful flowers.

"Talismans?"asked Billy, picking one of them up from the table.

Even without a close examination, one could easily see, that the flowery headbands were made of three different flowers - the blue, yellow and purple colors mixed together.  
Upon close examination though, one discovered, that they were much more durable than they looked - undoubtably a result of the womens´ craftsmanship.

"Oh, yes. They are absolutely essencial."said Mom with a sage nod.

"Everyone is out of touch with the Great Oneness´ balance - THAT´S undoubtably the reason for all the gloom around. These talismans are all charged with positive energy. They should make everyone feel better in no time."explained Bee happily, squealing with joy and absolutely sure of the fact.

As if to prove their point, April giggled happily, setting down another complete flower-headband.

"And you expect everyone to wear one of these on their heads tommorow?"asked Lola, already dreading the concept.

"Why, of course. As I said - they are essencial."said Mom.

Lola and Lily exchanged exaspirated looks. They knew, it was highly unlikely, that everyone at the Festival would want to wear flowers on their heads.  
And they knew perfectly, that THIS was just the begining...

"Um... where did you get all these anyway?"asked Lily uncertainly, gesturing to the various boxes at the table, which were filled with various flowers.

"From Miles of course."answered April instantly.

The exaspirated looks of Lola and Lily were in complete contrast with the happy and affectionate looks of Mom, Buba, April and Bee.

"He´s been very helpful. He is still running errands for us since morning."said Mom.

"Sweet boy. He wants the Autumn Festival to be as best it can."nodded Buba, a note of absolute affection rich in her voice.

Lily, Billy and Lola now knew, who was responsible for the posters, the flowers... and probably so much more...

"You should wear these too. You´ll have your balance back in no time."suggested Bee happily.

Though Lola and Lily protested a bit, they instantly found themseves wearing the flower headbands in a matter of seconds - courteousy of Mom and Bee.

"You too, young oaktree."said Mom happily, offering one to Billy.

Billy took a small step back, holding his hands up in an appeasing way.

"N-no, I´m allright, Mrs Tofu... really... no offence, but... they don´t look very manly..."

Just then Pop and his trusty best friend and collague Ralph entered the kitchen with large boxes in their hands. The boxes were full of flowers - it could be seen easily, once they set them down on the ground; Curly and Suzie instantly coming to them and nipping out a few.

What made Lola slap her forehead was the fact, that both men were _also_ wearing the flower headbands.

Mom Tofu beamed at the pair of them before directing her smile back at Billy.

"See? Its nothing to be ashamed about..."she said kindly and patiently.

Billy gulped, knowing that his argument was now completly useless.

...

A few moments later, most of the teens were sitting upstairs in Lola´s room - an emergency meeting in session.

"What are we going to do? They really want to start the festival with a blast."noted Lily.

Chichi grumbled yet again. He too was wearing a flower headband, being sweet-talked into it by both Mom and April.

"Good question. Looks like we can´t get ourselves out of this one. And I´ve had my share of embaressment today already."he said, still going red at the very thought of the Geography mishap.

He could only imagine the new wave of laughter, they were now very likely to get tommorow.

"Well... looking at the poster... it looks like all of our plans are completly out of the question."said Billy, once more looking at the poster, which was on Chichi´s table.

"_Hocus... Pocus... Ca-ca-ca... Caramba..._"

Chichi reached into his pocket, quickly siezing his Gzorbial cell-phone.

"Phil... good timing... what´s the word... oh..."

Lily, Billy, Lola and Chloe, who came up for the meeting a minute ago, all watched the blonde-haired Tofu, as he listened on.  
His expression was rapidly changing - from hopeful to troubled... and finally depressed.

"O-okay... Well... just enjoy your date... we´ll try and figure something out... bye."

Deactivating the phone, Chichi gave out a deep sigh.

"Uh-oh... I know THAT look."muttered Lola.

"Its worse than we thought. Phil and Nicolette went around town. The posters are everywhere and by the looks of it, the whole of Beauvillage knows about the festival."informed Chichi.

"And let me guess... everyone is looking forward to it."muttered Billy, already knowing the answer.

"You got it. The two of them just came into _Club-horse_. Looks like every teenager in Beauvillage is in there, and by the sound of it, everyone is really looking forward for tommorow."

Lola goaned, falling onto her bed and covering her face with her pillow.

"Great... we´ll die of embaressment..."she practicly moaned.

Chichi folded his arms and took a moment to look out of the window.

"Billy... Lily... Chloe... you guys just go... Me and Chichi can´t get out of this, but there´s no need for you to get in the heat too."said Lola, taking the pillow off her face, but still remained lying.

"No way! I´m staying, Lola."said Billy staunchly, at once reaching her side.

"Yeah. We´re friends - we´re in this together."nodded Lily.

"You got it - what are friends for?! There HAS to be some way to make this right. Let´s put our heads together and try to find a solution."suggested Chloe, reaching Chichi´s side.

The support of their friends made the Tofu siblings look at eachother and smile.

"You´re right..."said Lola.

Chichi nodded.

"All right... let´s put our heads together and find a way to make tommorow´s opening a cool one."he said, determination alight in his eyes as he fist-bumped with Chloe.

"That´s the spirit - come on!"said Billy happily, and as one, all five of them went to the table, looking at the poster and determined to somehow try to make the best of the situation.

...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The approaching start of the festival was keeping the Beauvillagers in keen anticipation. Not even the weather - no longer rainy on Saturday, nevertheless still gloomy - seemed to be able to dull it.

Since early morning (nevermind yesterday) the Beauvillagers seemed to be talking about it, and hot rumours were flying around like crazy.  
One group of people were talking about a concert... others about a magic-show... some even believed, that the country´s top celebrities would be attending.

And... _naturally_... this did NOT go unnoticed by Beauvillage´s now-famous teenage detective trio...

So it happened, that Nick, Tex and Archie were walking up the now-familiar street towards the Beauvillage Police Station, accompanied by three of their... _allies_.

"Jeez, monkey-face... what´s your problem?!"exclaimed Mia, looking as annoyed as her boyfriend.

Though they were both annoyed and arguing, they were holding hands as they went.

"_Half an hour?! _We killed half and hour in the market-place?! We could have been at the Station long ago!"Nick shot back, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, don´t blame ME, mister! Not my fault the princess here had to go and buy out three full shops!"retorted Mia, shooting a dark look on her older sister Candy, who was holding a large basket in her hand as they walked.

"Well, I HAD to buy something. Afterall, we are going to spend some time there."said Candy smiling dreamily at the prospect.

"_Something_...! Not half of the sweetshop, ya airhead!"growled Mia, glaring her sister instantly.

"I don´t mind. At least we have enough of everything."piped up Archie, who just like Tex, had his hands full of the bags that Candy made them carry.

Nick and Mia instantly shot death-glares at the shortest member of the Brotherhood, who promtly gulped.

"Besides... at least you´ve had the chance to gather some information about the festival."said Emily, who was keeping herself close to Archie.

True...  
While Candy went from one shop to the other, the three detectives moved around the market-place and scribbled in their small notebooks, determined to get as much information as possible.  
And they´ve certainly heared a LOT from the various people in the market-place.

They reached the Police Station a moment later.  
One look inside told them quite plainly, that the various policemen were also looking forward to this festival.  
Various policemen were standing or sitting in groups and eagerly discussing the subject.

They instantly noticed the five newcomers and greeted them very warmly. A few Officers even escorted them to their superior´s office.

"... well, finally _something _going on in this town. Detective Wiseman also seems to be very interested in the event. I really hope, we will see you there tonight too."said the last of them, as he and his collagues took their leave of the group.

"Very suspitious..."muttered Tex, as they were left alone infront of Wiseman´s door.

"Tell me about it - two days ago everyone was half-dead and moping... and now its the exact opposite!"nodded Nick.

"Its like... everyone is under some kind of spell..."breathed Archie.

Candy didn´t pause to ponder on any of this.

"Surprise!"she sing-songed happily, slamming the door open and bursting in without any thought.

Nick, Mia and Emily shared an eye-roll and along with Tex and Archie followed into the office.

"Surprise, Freddie...! I thought we should... huh?!"

Placing the basked on the worktable, Candy looked around the office confusedly. So did the rest of them in fact.  
The office was completly empty...

"Where could he be...?"pondered Archie.

"What gives...?! The officers said, that he´s in the office!"exclaimed Nick, looking around.

As all of them looked around the deserted office, the wide-open front door was slowly closing with a creaking sound.  
Emily, turned to it and instantly gave out a small shriek, alerting the others.

"B-Brother Fred!"exclaimed both Tex and Archie.

The door revealed Detective Wiseman standing right there... positively glued to the wall, a frozen expression on his face and a file-folder in his hands.

"O-ouch..."he muttered, before falling to the ground.

Tex, Archie and Emily, instantly rushed to his side, while Nick and Mia fixed Candy heavy glares.

"You dumbass cow! You should´ve knocked first, instead of busting in like crazy! Now look what you did!"roared Mia angerly, pointing her finger on the knocked-out detective.

Candy however surveyed her boyfriend on the ground with a look of geniune surprise.

"Did _I _do that?"she asked in a completly innocent voice.

Nick slapped a hand on his forehead, while Mia stomped the floor in rage.

"AND WHO D´YOU THINK...?! SANTA CLAUS?!"

Candy looked at her sister in an even bigger susprise.

"But... how _could _he? Christmas isn´t for another two months...?"

Beauvillage Police Station shook in its foundaries - rocked by a giant roar of rage, as Nick literally had to throw himself on his girlfriend before she could launch at her older sister who was completly oblivious to anything that was going on.

A few minutes later, all seemed right in Wiseman´s office which also served as the main headquarters of the Brotherhood. Almost as if the incident did not even happen...

Everyone was sitting around Wiseman´s table and helping themselves to the various sweets and snacks, that were bought. Well... almost everyone. Tex and Archie only helped themselves to a few, before they stood up and started to set up one of the blackboards, pulling it towards a spot before the other three desks in the office - the desks reserved for the members of the Brotherhood.

"Excellent thinking, brothers. The more information we have, the better!"exclaimed Wiseman, in responce to Nick´s report of their little eavesdropping on market-street.

"Yea. And with as much as we have, our _police-web _will be nicely filled early on."said Archie happily, patting the blackboard.

The phrase, though familiar with the members of the Brotherhood, left the girls completly confused.

Emily looked at another of the blackboards, one that was completly filled and still had the information of the previous case on it - the Halloween case...

"Police-web...? Don´t you mean _spider-web_?"she asked, looking from one to the other.

"Of course not, Emily. Spider-webs are for catching _flies_... _police-webs _are for catching... _criminals_."said Wiseman, nodding sagely.

Mia rolled her eyes, while Emily giggled at the "_wise_" logic. Candy, who was sitting right beside him, instantly squealed and threw her arms around her boyfriend´s neck.

"You are soooo brilliant."she squealed.

She made a show of kissing him on the cheek, while Mia turned around and mimed vommiting on the ground.  
Wiseman blushed deep-red and grinned goofily for a moment, before shaking his head and standing up.

"All right... time for work... brothers - to the blackboard! Time to set up the police-web! Let´s go over the clues we have."he said, rushing to the blackboard along with Nick.

Candy gave a long lovesick sigh and surveyed Wiseman.

"Isn´t he just _amazing_...?"

"They _all _are."said Emily gently, looking at Archie with undeniable affection.

"_No comment..._"muttered Mia, as she finally sat down and helped herself to some sweets.  
Though even she could not help but shoot a small smile at Nick´s back.

"All right, brothers - _Evidence number one!_"boomed Miles dramaticly.

He took the poster, that was now hanged almost everywhere in Beauvillage, and using magnets, stuck it into the very middle of the blackboard.

"So... this... _festival _is to start today at six PM... at Town Hall´s auditorium. What d´you think about this, brothers?"

Tex and Archie exchanged thoughtful looks, but Nick snorted.

"Just like that. Completly out of the blue - no one even _heared _about this before yesterday."

"Very observant. Ten points - _brother _Nick."said Mia, smirking a bit, as her boyfriend shot her a frown.

Wiseman however pulled out a piece of chalk and wrote the word "_sudden_" beside the poster on the right.

"Observant indeed, Mia. This tells us, that such a thing was planned very recently. Perhaps even yesterday... What else can we deduce from our first piece of evidence?"

Once more, there was absolute silence in the office for a few moments...

"Um... _fun, excitement and surprises_... it doesn´t say WHAT exactly."said Archie, pointing to the poster.

"Excellent, brother Archie. And very correct too... this could mean some hidden secret in the festival´s motives."nodded Wiseman, writing the word "_secret_" above the poster.

"Good work, teddy-bear."whispered Emily happily, winking at Archie, making him go red and double his focus on the blackboard.

A few more observations, thistime from Tex and Wiseman followed and the poster now had a word written around all four of its sides.

"Now... the next set of evidence - your observations from the market-place."instructed Wiseman.

Nick, Tex and Archie each presented their notebooks and together, they read out every single rumour going around town.

"Oh, brother..."muttered Mia, as the Brotherhood of the Wise went over it all, placing it on the blackboard and connecting it from one point to another.

"Well... looks like our police-web is starting to fill up."exclaimed Tex happily, and it was true...  
The blackboard was now nicely filled, the "evidence" on it linked together and starting to resemble a spider-web.

"Yes, brother Tex. But there is still something more to add. Something very importaint indeed..."nodded Wiseman.

The four members of the Brotherhood shared a small look before they exclaimed as one.

"SUSPECTS!"

Even Mia giggled, as the four of them instantly struck a pose of deep thought.

"Now... who in Beauvillage would be capable of orchestrating this... _festival_...?"asked Wiseman in mock-thought.

"Who else?! That _bio-hazard _\- Chichi Tofu!"exclaimed Nick at once.

"Yeah! That´s just like something he´d do!"nodded Tex in fierce aprooval.

Wiseman scrambled to his desk and took the file-folder, he had in his hands when they first came it.

"My thoughts exactly, brothers. I´ve been spying a bit on the Tofus just yesterday and there was quite a lot of activity going around their house. Thistime it seems, that young Chichi is assisted by his _whole family!_"

That set about several eager chats even among the girls. Archie placed several photos of the various Tofus on the blackboard and once more started to connect them to other pieces of "evidence".

"And of course... there is one suspect we must NOT forget! That... that... that... _criminal _\- Michael Miles!"exclaimed Wiseman, slamming a photo of Miles - taken from the Miss Beauvillage contest a few weeks ago - onto the blackboard, and instantly connected them to every single piece of "evidence" they had on it.

"Its a _conspiracy!_"exclaimed Archie, looking at the police-web.

"With a hidden agenda!"added Tex.

"We have to put a stop to this!"exclaimed Nick, already getting worked-up.

"But we can´t rely on the help of my men. The Beauvillage Police Department can not do anything at the moment... Not without firm evidence..."said Wiseman, though it seemed not to bother him at all.

"They don´t have to, brother Fred."said Tex.

"Right - we can handle this on our own just fine."nodded Archie.

"They don´t stand a chance against US..."proclaimed Nick in sheer determination.

"Correct, boys. Because... we are..."nodded Wiseman.

At that moment, all four of them pulled out their sunglasses and put them on, standing in line and striking a pose together.

"THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WISE!"

Watching the four of them, Candy gave out a cheer and started to applaud, while Emily giggled at the sight.  
Mia just sat calmly, rolling her eyes and sighing.

"Like I said - _NO comment_..."

...

The day had gone exceptionally fast even by Beauvillage standards. Before anyone knew it, the little light the day provided turned into dark, and the early evening also brought in a dense fog.  
But dispite the obviously spooky night - one that was more fit for Halloween - most Beauvillagers were clearly in a state of euphoria.

A great number of people gathered at Town Hall Square, exctement rich on every single face.  
Several families... teenagers from both Beauvillage Elementary and Beauvillage High School... even a great number of teachers from both schools...

"_Great. _Even in this fog, it looks like almost everyone in town came here..."muttered Lola in a dead-panned voice.

"In times like this... I really _hate _to be right..."said Chichi in the very same tone of voice.

The Tofu siblings took a small chance to escape the last-minute preparations in the Auditorium, in order to get a small view of the situation.  
From the first floor windows of the Town Hall, they quickly observed the movement of the people outside. Thanks to the fog, they were forced to use binoculars.  
Binoculars, supplied to them by noneother than...

"Where IS Miles anyway? Its not like he´d miss out on such a chance..."asked Lola, her nervousness starting to rise.  
And the fact, that she hadn´t even _seen _their infamous houseguest all day long was certainly NOT helping...

"**WASSUUUUUUP?!**"

The two siblings jumped and turned to the person, who was standing right behind them and was currently laughing like a little kid in the wake of the near heart-attack he gave them.

"**MILES! **HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU **NOT TO DO THAT?!**"roared Lola.

"Oh, c´mon Lola. You two looked positively glued to that window, so I had to liven you up somehow."

Ignoring her glare, Miles moved to the window and taking the binoculars from Chichi, observed the scene on the square.

"_Holy cash! _Talk about a great turn out! I didn´t expect so many people..."

"Well, _we _did..."muttered Chichi.

"Where _were _you all this time anyway?"asked Lola, still a bit irritated, and to be honest, kinda dreading the answer.

"Oh, I just made a super-speedy lil´ trip to Megacity. A great offer came up at the last minute."

Putting the binoculars down, Miles bent a bit closer to Lola, as if to disclose some secret information.

"It was a very sweet deal - _lots and lots of greed_. Plus I picked up a number of cool things we can use for the festival. And... I have a cool surprise prepared for today too."he said, before returning his sights to the window, using the binoculars to survey the street with interest.

"Oh, brother..."goaned Lola, rolling her eyes.

A muffled, electronic, strange-kind of roar sounded in the room. Both Lola and Miles looked at Chichi, who was clearly the source of the sound.  
Or rather... his Gzorbial cell-phone, which he pulled out from his pocket.  
The Gzorbial´s eyes were blinking in light and the Gzorbial "alarm-roar" was instantly silenced at the push of a button.

"Well... we´d better get downstairs. The festival starts in five minutes..."said Chichi, taking the binoculars from Miles and bending down for his backpack.

Lola handed her binoculars to her brother, while looking at Miles who was already heading for the door.

"You know... I´m kinda surprised, you´re not down there _already_. I thought you´d be setting up a pay-stand or something."

Miles stopped in the doorway and fixed Lola a completly confused look.

"Pay-stand...? What on Earth for...?"

The question almost made Lola´s jaw drop.

"You mean, you´re NOT going to charge the people anything...?! Admission-fee... or for the flower-bands... or... _anything_...?!"she asked, completly amazed.

"Definitely NOT. Its the start of the festival afterall... and I´m a nice, caring and well-thinking guy with absolutely selfless intentions..."said Miles, placing his right palm over his heart, and giving her a puppy-eyed, innocent look.

"Pay-stand... jeez... what d´you take me for - a _cheapskate_? Anyway... see ya downstairs soon."he added, giving them a sunny grin before dissapearing trough the door.

Chichi snickered and shook his head before looking at his confused sister.

"He´s not charging anything tonight, only because the first taste is always for free. Its how you create demand - you know... _business_."he explained, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning slyly.

Lola giggled dispite herself.

"THAT explains everything. Could´ve fooled _me_..."she said, shaking her head.

The pair of them exited the room still laughing a bit, the distraction making them feel at least a bit better, dispite the fact, that they were in for quite a wacky night.

...

As soon as the door of the Town Hall Auditorium opened, people started to enter in a fast pace.  
That included several well-known faces in Beauvillage - including Mr Workalot, the Connerses, the Robinses, the Spock doctors, Mrs Starchy, Mr Weatherby, Rodney Philips and Angie, Prinicpal Whiterose with her husband, as well as Prinicpal Knowmuch and his young wife...  
Even Mayor Haveitall was present - smiling pleasantly and looking as happy and enthusiastic as any other Beauvillager, and accompanying the elderly Mrs Longline, who suddenly seemed as young as any of them.  
The adults though were severely outnumbered by the sheer ammount of kids and teenagers present there - something which included most of Lola´s class, as well as Chichi´s class.

The moment, the people entered the Auditorium they were greeted by a beautiful sight.  
The auditorium was neatly decorated in live, rich colors. Most of them were sunny, in stark contrast with the weather outside. Large rings of flowers were seen almost everywhere - hanged on the walls, richly brightening the few tables present, and a few were even hanging from the cieling like mistletoe at Christmas.

The very look of the room seemed to have compounded the enthusiasm of the people and quite a few did not even protest to the Tofu family animals being present... or the flower headbands, that were being offered to everyone by most of the female population of the organizing unit.

"This is so cool..."exclaimed Victor Rogers, who came in with his parents, as well as his two older brothers.

"And the fun is just begining..."said Chloe, winking at him and offering him the basket with the headbands.

Victor took it instantly and with a bright expression started to place it on his head - something, his giggling Mom quickly helped him with, before reaching into the basket for two more; placing one on her own head, another on her chuckling husband´s.  
Daniel, also chuckling, took one too.

"Cute idea, Chloe. Really beats all the boredom lately. I´m really looking forward to this - a nice way to spend some off-duty time."

Chloe flashed him a radiant smile.

"Well... we do our best."she grinned, sing-songing in reply and making a mock-sallute with her free hand.

Oliver though, rolled his eyes and gave a mild goan. Suddenly however, he found himself being offered a headband too.

"Here´s one for you too, Ollie."said Chloe, still grinning happily.

"No, thanks. I´ll pass..."he muttered grumpily.

"Oh, come on, Ollie."cooed his mother.

"Yeah, little bro. Its all good fun."added Daniel.

Oliver shook his head and turned away with his hands in his pockets.

"Like I said - _no, thanks_. I think I´ll go and find Liam and Maurice."he said in a really grumpy voice.

Chloe´s cheerful smile instantly turned into a glare.

"Fine! Be that way! _Party-pooper_...!"she said, stressing the latter two words with intent.

Oliver however merely snorted.

"Whatever..."he said, as he walked away.

Chloe kept glaring his back, while Victor made a move to follow him, only to be stopped by Daniel.

"Forget it, bro. Just let him cool down."

"He´s right, Vic. Don´t let him spoil your fun. Afterall... everything is JUST begining."said Chloe, gesturing to the stage with her thumb.

On the stage, Beth Hubbub was just taking the microphone, accompanied by Lola and Mom Tofu.

The crowd lined up infront of the stage in eager anticipation, as Beth tested the microphone and observed everyone with a smile.

"Um... hi. Welcome, Beauvillagers to the opening of our first-ever Autumn Festival."announced Beth.

There was an instant, ear-splitting cheer from almost everyone in the crowd. As well as a thunderous applause. During which time, Mom Tofu took the microphone from Beth.

"Since the recent weather has been the cause of so much _bad karma _in our lovely little town... we decided to do something about it. Starting tonight, and all trough the following week, the Autumn Festival will do everything it can, to send clear, good-vibes troughout Beauvillage."

The crowd once more applauded, though it was clear, did not full understand what it meant.

"As long as it doesn´t involve something crazy...!"exclaimed the voice of Mildred Starchy.

"As long as it doesn´t involve... _Geography _\- right, Chichi?!"

Several teens from Beauvillage Elementary roared with laughter, and at the very back of the stage, Chichi´s face could instantly be seen, as it turned beet-red.

Chloe´s eyes instantly found the source of the last remark and even trough the distance, she shot Oliver the dirtiest look she could possibly muster.

On the stage meanwhile, Lola took the microphone from Mom.

„We prepared several fun and interesting things, that will make sure, that each and every event will be both exciting and surprising..."

In truth, they haven´t exactly planned everything... well actually, the elders planned most things, but the next steps of the festival will clearly have to be altered in order to prevent a disaster...

„But more of that later... For tonight, the event is quite simple – since its Saturday, its time to rock Beauvillage with a _Saturday Night Party_..."

As the crowd exploded in cheer again, Lola allowed herself a small sigh of relief.  
It looked like their little plan had worked... for now...  
She and Chichi, with the help of Lily, Billy, and Chloe were able to um... _improve _on the original plan of the elders for tonight, by using a great ammount of subtle suggestions.  
For tonight, at least... she felt... especially after seeing the cheers of the audience... she felt, that they were safe.  
Now, the only thing for her and the others to do, was to keep the elders in check and make sure, that the Saturday Night Party would not be reduced to total squareville...

Little did she, or anyone else know... that they would soon be facing an opposite problem...

...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Town Hall Square was now completly deserted. The only sound on the fog-filled street could only be heared coming from the auditorium.

"**ARE YOU CRAZY?!**"

Well... almost...

"Jeez, blondie... cool it!"exclaimed Nick, once again grabbing Mia from behind, before she could launch herself at her sister.

Although he couldn´t exactly blame her...  
During their planning at the station, Candy insisted on being included in tonight´s mission.  
In fact... "_insisted_" in Nick´s humble opinion was a very mild way to put it. She pouted, begged and positively wailed like an immature child, especially when Mia was included in the mission so easily.  
In that moment, Candy looked and acted like the younger sister instead of the older one.  
And of course... brother Fred couldn´t say "no" to his own girlfriend...

However... while the four members of the brotherhood came dressed in their favourite detective coats, and Mia herself didn´t bother to dress any differently for this mission, her elder sister had clearly decided to dress up for the occasion...  
And dress up _**all wrong!**_

She was dressed in a black turtle-neck sweater, pale-pink pants, black boots, and she even brought a frilly-pink ski-mask... one that was cut at the top, leaving her long blonde hair free.

"I know, sis... I know... Its a bit too much, but I really wanted to be prepared for the mission."said Candy, though unlike Mia she sounded as happy as she could be, even flashing her younger sister a "victory" sign.

Mia was about to retort, but Nick placed his hand over her mouth, while still keeping hold of her. But eventhough she was being held, and her mouth was covered, she did not stop gesticulating with her fists or ranting muffledly. Nor did she seem to mind Nick holding onto her in such a way...

"Aww... you two are so cute... cuddling like that wherever you go..."Candy cooed.

Almost instantly, Nick and Mia jumped away from eachother, their faces flashing an identical shade of red.  
They flashed a shocked look at eachother as they both realized, that lately... they HAVE been in this position on a daily basis... and literally almost everywhere.

"Oh, you´re here... excellent."came a voice, that was a welcome relief to the two embaressed teens.

"FREDDIE!"squealed Candy in an even louder voice than Mia, and immediately launched herself on her boyfriend.

Tex and Archie, who arrived with Wiseman just barely managed to jump out of the way. Wiseman however wasn´t so lucky - catching him off-guard, Candy sent them both crashing to the ground.  
She didn´t seem to mind though. She held Wiseman firmly on the ground and as if oblivious to the fact, that she has her ski-mask on, kept kissing every bit of his face she could reach.

"You crazy COW! Will you STOP THAT?!"roared Mia angrily.

"Yeah, Candy! We have a MISSION!"added Nick in an equally angry voice.

Candy took a small break from kissing her boyfriend and even trough the ski-mask she fixed them her signature pout.

"Hey - no fair, Mia! I wanna cuddle my boyfriend too...!"she whined, in both teens´ opinion like a five-year old.

"WE WERE **NOT **CUDDLING!"they roared at her in unism.

"Okay, okay... that´s enough. Sweetheart, my brother and your sister are quite right. We DO have a mission..."said Wiseman quickly, as he gently pried Candy off him and getting to his feet.

"But Freddie... these two can cuddle all day... its not fair!"she whined, pointing at Nick and Mia.

Archie and Tex shared a snicker - a snicker that was instantly silenced by a double-glare of the said couple, before they directed their glares at Candy again.

"Y-yes... but Candy... we have serious work to do here. I need ALL of you on your posts..."said Wiseman in a placating voice.

Just then, a massive roar of laughter rang from the auditorium, making them all turn around in its direction.

"See, stupid?! They already started!"exclaimed Mia, pointing at the auditorium.

"We have to find out, what´s going on!"exclaimed Archie, half-ready to spring into action.

Wiseman clapped his hands, drawing all attention on himself.

"All right! Just like we planned, we will start to gather more evidence, so we can expose this sinister conspiracy and put them all behind bars, till they ROT!"he said, reaching into the side-pocket of his coat.

Nick, Tex, Archie and Mia all nodded, with determination in their eyes. They moved closer, formed a circle and crouched down, as Wiseman pulled out a large piece of paper and started to smooth it over as he placed it on the pavement.  
Only Candy was left out of the circle and she kept stealing glances over Nick´s and Wiseman´s shoulder.

"So... let´s go over our strategy..."said Wiseman, finally smoothing the paper out completly, grinning at his assistants who were eagerly looking at the plan.

However... instead of the buildings representing Town Hall Square, all that was on the paper were six simple points, labeled "1", "2", "3", "4", "A", "B", "C" and "D". There was also a small pannel on the right lower side of the plan, and it seemed to feature some sort of instruction.

Nick and Mia fixed the paper a confused look, while Archie readjusted his favourite cap on his head (a habit of his, whenever he was in his thinking mode), pulled out a black-marker and started to point on the points of the plan, as he read the lower right pannel.

"I think I got it, brother Fred - we divide ourselves into four teams. Team 1 will get to point A, Team 3 will go to Team 1, Teams 2 and 4 will set on point B..."

As Archie went on, drawing lines from one side of the plan to the other, Nick, Mia, Tex and Wiseman were looking increasingly more confused...  
Looking over her boyfriend´s shoulder, Candy observed the plan with increasing interest.

"... and finally we´ll connect points B and A, completing the formation."finished Archie, folding his arms in a satisfied way.

The rest of the circle did not bother to hide their confusion, and were once more staring at the paper, and the clear picture that Archie´s pin-pointing had created... failing to see any logic at all.

"Amazing, Archie... you´re very good at drawing, you know - it looks just like _SuperCop_!"exclaimed Candy, clapping her hands in applause.

"WHAT?!"exclaimed Nick, Tex, Mia and Wiseman, looking closely on the image on the paper.

"What the...?!"muttered Tex.

"She´s right..."breathed Nick.

"It DOES look like _SuperCop_..."said Mia, pointing to the picture on the paper - one that was a spitting image of the popular children´s comic-book superhero.  
One, that no kid once reaching the age of 6, EVER bothered to read or watch again... except her airhead sister...

Wiseman quickly siezed the paper and quickly placed it in his coat´s pocket as everyone looked at him.

"Oops... sorry. W-wrong plan..."he muttered sheepishly, going red in the face and rummaging his side-pocket again.

He quickly pulled out another sheet of paper and smoothed it over on the pavement again.  
Just in case... everyone (especially Mia) examined the paper thoroughly, even comparing a few of the points on it with their surroundings, those that weren´t completly obscured by the fog.

Still red-faced, Wiseman cleared his throat and took the black-marker from Archie.

"Okay... our target is Town Hall Auditorium. I´ve set up six surveilance points on the entire square. Since there are six of us, the obvious thing to do would be to divide and cover each of them. We will keep in touch with our walkie-talkies. Everyone brought them, right?"

Nodding at him, Nick, Tex, Archie and Mia all pulled out their walkie-talkies.

"Right... keep a lookout for any-..."

"HEY! Where´s mine?!"exclaimed Candy, looking from one of them to another.

Mia instantly growled and fixed her a glare.

"You should´ve paid attention to the briefing in the office. You were supposed to bring one yourself!"

"That´s not fair, Mia - you have one, and I don´t..."Candy whined, ignoring the comment.

"Well, _boo-hoo_..."said Mia, rolling her eyes.

"But I need one too..."

Mia smirked at the remark.

"Get your own!"she shot back savagely.

"But Mia, without one... I can´t take part on the mission..."

Mia´s smirk became even more pronounced.

"You _can´t_...?! _Oh, goody_..."

"Um... nevermind, girls. I´ll just give Candy _my _walkie-talkie then."said Wiseman quickly, hoping to solve the matter as quick as possible.

"YAAAY! Thanks, Freddie!"Candy exclaimed happily.

Mia however growled loudly, as she watched Wiseman hand his walkie-talkie over.

A few moments later, the plan was underway. Although thanks to Candy... it had to be _altered_.  
Nick quickly pointed out, that two of the six surveilance points were kinda minor, so they could be ignored. To make up for Wiseman´s loss of his walkie-talkie, Tex and Archie were partnered together sharing one, while their "big brother" had the other.

And so... they all moved on the various points of Town Hall Square, intent on gathering their evidence.

"Wise 1_... this is _Wise 3 _\- nothing yet... over..._"rang Archie´s voice on the walkie-talkie.

"_This is _Wise 2_,_ Wise 1_... nothing here either... over..._"came Nick´s voice, not a moment later.

"Wise 4 _reporting... nothing to report... over..._"

At Mia´s input, Wiseman sighed.

"All right - Wise 2, 3 and 4... It looks like our culprits already covered their tracks. Keep searching for any clues... and keep a lookout for that criminal Miles´ accursed car... over."

"_Roger that... over..._"rang Nick´s, Archie´s and Mia´s voice all at once.

Wiseman almost put the walkie-talkie down, when he realized, that he was missing one more report.

"_Wise 5_? What about your input...? Over..."he quickly asked.

For a moment, there was utter silence on their airwaves.

"_Wise 5_?"he repeated, wondering what could´ve happened.

"_Wise 5_... do you copy? Over..."

Once again his question was met with silence... He quickly placed his ear to the walkie-talkie, wondering if any reply was simply too quiet.

"_**He means YOU - you COW!**_"

Town Hall Square instantly rang with four loud screams - all of them belonging to the members of the Brotherhood.

"_You crazy blondie! My ear almost fell off! Over!_"rang Nick´s voice over the walkie-talkie, while Wiseman was still gripping his throbbing ear.

"_You still have another one, monkey-face - and its big enough as it is! Over...!_"Mia replied.

"_Um... this is Candy here... is something wrong...?_"

"_Nice of you to notice... over...!_"grumbled Nick.

"_N-nevermind... C-Candy... how does it look in your sector? Over..._"asked Archie quickly.

"_What sector, Archie...?_"

"_Stop babying the numbskull, _Wise 3_! Are you, where you´re supposed to be, Candy?!_"replied Mia, taking hold of the situation.

"_I don´t know, sis... I can´t see properly._"

The reply was met with a yet another shriek that rocked the street. Though thistime Mia had the courteousy not to send her shriek of rage trough the walkie-talkie.

"_She has a point, everyone... hard to see anything in this soup. Over..._"noted Tex, obviously being passed the walkie-talkie by Archie.

"_I got it...! A flashlight might help... over..._"came Archie´s voice.

"_What kind of a blockhead idea is THAT, _Wise 3_?! Over...!_"replied Mia in an instant.

"_Got a better one, blond - I mean, _Wise 4_?! Over...!_"answered Nick.

"Its worth a try. _Wise 5 _\- er, I mean... _sweetheart_, take out the flashlight I gave you, and try to get a better look around yourself. Over..."Wiseman instructed, his ear still ringing a bit.

"_Okaaay, Freddie._"he heared his girlfriend reply cheerfully.

"_Urgh! OVER!_"added an exaspirated Mia.

For a small moment, there was total silence on the airwaves again.

On the opposite side of the Town Hall´s Auditorium building, Candy lit up her flashlight.  
Unlike the semi-lighted Square, the back of the building wasn´t much lighted. In fact, the only source of light was coming from the single small window near the door. And that certainly wasn´t enough to illuminate the parking space infront of it.  
Worse still, the fog was so dense, that coupled with the darkness around made it really hard to see more than a step ahead.

"_Candy...? Did it help? Over..._"rang Wiseman´s voice from the walkie-talkie.

Thistime responding to it, Candy picked up the instrument.

"A little... But I still can´t see much."

"_Well _duh_, Einstein... take a good look around! Over..._"said Mia´s voice.

Candy moved slowly, a flashlight in one hand, the walkie-talkie in the other. The place looked deserted and it was very quiet there - much more quiet, than infront of the Auditorium.  
In fact, the only sound that could be heared was the constant voices coming from the walkie-talkie.

"_Still nothing, _Wise 1_... over._"

"_Nothing here either... over._"

"Wise 3 _also has nothing to report... over._"

A small gust of wind blew around, making Candy shiver.

"_I _have something to report."she said quickly.

"_WHAT...?_"rang no more than three voices.

"This place is starting to give me the creeps."

The only thing Candy could hear in responce were two goans and a small growl. Suddenly however... out of the thick fog... came another sound.

"W-what was THAT?"she exclaimed shakily, looking around.

Another sound came out of nowhere - the sound of something closing. Dispite starting to shake, Candy moved slowly towards the source, her flashlight.  
As she approached closer, another sound came - something like a rattle.  
Candy gulped. Her flashlight illuminating her way, she could finally see something - the outlines of a van, parked in the shadow of the building.

The rattle-like sound came again, thistime accompanied by a voice - a deep voice with a truly ominous growl.

"Uaaaargh... ooo... wana-wana..."

Candy almost dropped the flashlight, now completly scared.

"W-who´s there...?!"she managed to ask shakily.

"... aaaaaaaaaaghh... wana-wana..."said the voice, as it drew nearer, accompanied by the rattle-sound.

Candy wanted to do something, but she suddenly found herself unable to move or say anything, as the outlines of a figure appeared from beside the van.  
It was a very strange figure - tall, slim, but its head seemed to be unnaturally large...  
Another gust of wind blew, and her eyes positively bulged out, unable to stop shaking as the figure moved closer, coming into view... rattling as it went.

"... wana-wana... WANA...!"

Town Hall Square was once more rocked by a high-pitched scream of pure terror. One that continued down the street, as Candy positively ran for her life, screaming all the way...

...

Inside the Auditorium, the party was heavily underway.

"Phew... looks like everything is actually going great."said Lola to her best friend, as they watched the people enjoy themselves.

Lily giggled, watching the various young ones, as well as elders dance the new dance introduced by Bee and Mom Tofu. Lola and Chichi feared a serious setback, when the two women started to show it, but luckily... the people took to the "_Dance of Autumn happiness_" with as much vigour, as they did to Balthazar Bunglewood´s "_Green dance_".  
The music played on the equipment, that Phil and Chichi put together was pleasant enough, and... well... a little... "hip".

"Yeah. Look - even Mayor Haveitall is dancing."she said, pointing to the dance-floor.

The two girls giggled, as they saw the mayor chaught in a three-way dance with his daughter Angie and Rodney Philips.

"Lola, Lily, come on... we need some help here."called April, coming to a halt before them.

"The food-tables again?"asked Lola, almost not able to believe it.

"You bet. The food´s dissapearing like crazy."April confirmed, nodding cheerfully.

Sharing a nod, Lola and Lily followed her.  
They saw, that several boys on the dancefloor eyed April with bright interest. Which was another little surprise to Lola...

April was the only one from their group, who was dressed very differently for the occasion.  
She was wearing a pure-white druidess outfit - just like the one, Mom Tofu was wearing.  
In fact, Mom Tofu made it especially for her, and April was absolutely overjoyed by finally getting to wear it.  
And coupled with a flower headband on her head, she really did look quite nice.  
Lola instantly made a mental note to try and register the reaction of her little brother as well...

They made it to the food tables, which wasn´t easy with the ammount of people there.  
While the young ones were generally in majority on the dancefloor, it was almost exacty the opposite at the food tables.  
They were quite large, and all were filled with several specialities of... let´s say... _aleternative-kitchen_, as Chloe labled it.

But while there were many foods of the Tofu kitchen, the people actually seemed to enjoy it.  
And enjoy it so much, that Buba, Chloe, Billy and Beth really had their hands full.

"I´m glad, that everything is going so well... even if it means so much work for us."Lola noted, as she and Lily went trough the door behind the tables, into the other room which was currently used for food storage.

"I know what you mean. Its nice to see everyone enjoy the party so much. With any luck, this could very well be another party to remember."nodded Lily, as she reached a small cart, on which the supplies will be loaded.

And they loaded them quite nicely.  
Various fruits, little baked rolls (a special recipe, that Mom and Beth made together), a great pot of the now-famous herb-recipe (commonly known as _Chowda_), as well as several little treats concucted by Buba or Beth.

"Then again... they _should _enjoy it - everything is _free_, afterall."Lily added, giggling a little.

Lola also giggled, but suddenly she frowned.

"By the way... did you see Miles anywhere?"

Lily responded with another giggle.

"Sure did. About fifteen minutes ago. He was talking about something with Ralph and your Dad. He told me, that its a big surprise, which will become the highlight of the festival."

Far from giggling, Lola suddenly felt a cold shiver down her spine.  
In her mind, she was already doing the math - a big surprise from Miles, plus the involvement of Pop (and presumably the other elders), equals... _**a**_ _**catastrophe!**_

They just managed to manoovre the loaded cart out of the supply-room and towards the others at the tables, when the music suddenly stopped.

"What the...?!"muttered Lola.

She turned her head towards the stage and to her sheer horror, she saw, that Ralph and Pop were on the stage, their trusty guitairs in their hands.

Almost letting the bowl of strawberries fall to the ground, Lola quickly placed it on the table and started to move. She tried to manoovre trough the people, all of whom were now staring at the stage with bright curiosity, even some applause.

"Ooookay, folks. As the festival promised - there will be a susprise every day. For today´s surprise, we have a special guest, who will guide us trough the entire festival."announced Pop, to general applause of the crowd.

Lola managed to get past the various people and reach the enterance to the stage.  
She was in such a hassle, that she wasn´t even looking where she´s going properly.  
Suddenly, she collided with something and fell to the ground.  
Well... not something... but _someone_.

"Chichi?!"she breathed, looking at the person, who was similary on the ground.

"Lola?!"her baby-brother replied, running a hand on the side of his face - apparently she must have hit him at that spot.

"Now... since our Beauvillage is going trough a type of Autumn sickness... we decided to call a doctor... a really special doctor…"

"POP!"exclaimed both Tofu siblings, sharing a shocked look and scrambling to their feet.

Both of them tried to reach the stage, intent on stopping this... but... too late...

"... **the Witch doctor!**"exclaimed Pop and Ralph.

Lola and Chichi almost made it to the stage, when something on it exploded.  
A small flashy smoke-bomb of sorts banged right behind the two men.  
The crowd cheered like crazy, while the Tofu siblings were chaught in a smoke-cloud, and were instantly coughing like crazy.

Their eyes watering and trying to catch their breath, both of them could hear a thunderous cheer of applause from the crowd, as a newcomer joined the stage.

Lola slowly opened her watery eyes, and what she saw almost made her want to pass out.

On the stage stood a new figure.

A _**half-naked **_figure!

Barefoot, and wearing a simple loincloth (much like the one Chichi was wearing, when he was doing his test of manhood with Pop three years ago), along with several strange-looking ornaments hanging from his neck.  
Some were even present on his anckles, and on his wrists while his arms had strange symbols painted on them.  
On his head was a big wooden mask, decorated with several feathers (obviously donated by Cracker and Rocky).  
And in his hands, there were two rattles, which he shook in the air, as he drew nearer on the stage.

"M-M-MILEEES!"stammered Lola, shocked beyond imagining and knowing full-well, who is under that mask.

Miles stepped forward and faced the crowd, most of which was either cheering or laughing. There were a few in there however, who did neither.  
For instance, Mrs Starchy and Mr Workalot were looking at the stage in absolute exaspiration.  
Natalie Conners slapped her forehead; while Mr Liferich watched open-mouthed as though unable to believe his eyes; and Cherie´s parents (Mr and Mrs Peters) looked at eachother in absolute confusion.

"... ho-hooo... wana-wana... ha-ha..."Miles boomed into the microphone in a deep voice, once more shaking his rattles high over his head.

The Auditorium positively exploded in hilarious laughter. In fact, most people really had trouble catching their breath.

"_Oh-no..._"muttered Lola, placing a hand on her forehead - this was EXACTLY what she was afraid of.

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked beside her.  
Chichi flashed her a half-smile, though he kept observing the stage as well as the audience.  
Strangely enough, dispite the situation and the fact they were now a step away from total embaressment, she could not help but return the half-smile to her baby brother, happy to know, that she has him on her side.

"Well... we tried our best."she said with a small sigh, as Miles approached the microphone again.

„Hello, peoples…! Is _I_…"he called, and most people instantly cheered and apllauded again.

„I be the witch doctor. My name… _Big Mani_…"

The Auditorium roared with laughter again. Even Lola was not able to resist a laugh.

„Oh, brother…"she chuckled, while Chichi was laughing beside her.

„I do great spells to make blues go away…"

Miles made several exaggerated gestures, shaking as though he were on ice, along with nice deep „magic formulas" to go along with it, shaking his rattles.

Surprisingly, the crowd was applauding, still laughing and obviously taking the whole thing with humor.  
Well… at least the adults did.  
Most of the teenagers in the room simply could not contain their excitement. Several shouts of "_Cool_" or "_awesome_" could be heared.

Pop and Ralph instantly started to play their instruments, only doubling the crowd´s cheering.  
The „_witch doctor_" started to dance and shake his rattles in beat with the pair of them - the cheering crowd was clapping along too, as Pop started to sing.

_When you are down, and feeling blue._  
_You need someone, who knows what to do._  
_Don´t be afraid, all will be well._  
_As soon as this pro, casts up his spell..._

At that point, Miles stepped up to Pop´s microphone, and rattled his rattles high in the air as he started to sing.

_Wana-wana... mani-mani..._  
_Wana-wana... maaaaani..._  
_Wana-wana... mani-mani..._  
_Wana-wana... maaaaani..._

"Jeez... I don´t know, whether to laugh or scream..."noted Lola to her brother, as they watched Miles jump around and shake his rattles, doing a kind of ceremonial dance.

Chichi however was looking at the crowd; a giant grin starting to spread across his face. He grabbed Lola´s arm, and gestured to the podium with his head.

"Follow my lead."he said simply.

Moving quickly, the siblings took to the stage; Chichi taking one of the microphones in his hand.

"One more time, everyone... all together now..."he announced into the mike, gesturing with his finger in the air.

_Wana-wana... mani-mani..._  
_Wana-wana... maaaaani..._  
_Wana-wana... mani-mani..._  
_Wana-wana... maaaaani..._

Almost everyone in the crowd joined in, singing along and clapping in-time with Chichi´s gesturing and Miles´ rattles.

Grinning at her brother´s idea, Lola joined in at once; both Tofus improvising.  
Reaching him, she borrowed the microphone from him.

„Let´s use new dance, everyone…"she announced, taking advantage of the crowd´s euphoria.

She and Chichi quickly started to dance together, with the „_witch doctor_" jumping around them both.  
This was inspiration enough for the excited crowd. Everyone on the dancefloor and even some at the food tables copied the movements on the stage, while Pop and Ralph continued to play.

Mom was also dancing with April, the pair of them really standing out in the crowd thanks to their white robes.  
Bee, Beth, Chloe and Lily were all dancing together; Billy, Lily, Phil and Buba were laughing while shaking their heads in time with the beat...  
Even Titus, though not dancing himself was clearly enjoying himself.

"Great save, Chichi."said Lola, quickly ruffling his blonde hair, as they danced.

He shot her a wink, grinning back proudly, as he took the microphone from her again.

"Okay... let´s hear it again, people. All together with our witch doctor..."he called, deliberately stepping forward, gesturing with his other hand at Miles, who instantly jumped next to him.

"Wana-wana..."he started, and instantly turned the microphone to the crowd.

"...mani-mani..."the crowd roared back.

"Wana-wana..."called Chichi, before turning the microphone back to them again.

"...maaaaani..."roared the crowd.

"And again... Wana-wana..."

"...mani-mani..."

"Wana-wana..."

"...maaaaani..."

"YAAAY!"roared Chichi, jumping into the air as the crowd went positively wild.

Lola giggled at the sight - Chichi was suddenly hailed like a rockstar.

Pop and Ralph stopped playing and took their place beside Chichi and Miles. Lola did the same, and all five of them took a bow, as the crowd cheered and applauded.

"Guess I´m not the only one with a talent for the stage, huh?"asked Lola, grinning slyly at Chichi as they all took another bow.

"Runs in the family."replied Chichi with a grin.

The giant applause, that was still being heared made the pair of them breathe out a sigh of relief. Against all odds, they managed to evade failiure and somehow turn this party into a memorable one...

Suddenly however, there was a loud smashing noise behind them.

"**HALT! BVPD!**"came a new voice, approaching the stage.

"Brother Fred, watch - "another voice screamed out.

With a great deal of mess and noise, four people fell on the stage, sliding towards the crowd on their stomachs.  
All four were instantly recodnizable by their grey coats and in the case of their leader, his signature sunglasses.

"Its the Brotherhood of the Wise!"called a few of the younger teens in the crowd, inciting another wave of applause.

All four of them scrambled to their feet, brandishing their batons.  
Wiseman grumbled, taking his sunglasses off his eyes and placing them in his pocket before taking the microphone.

"QUIET! EVERYONE BE QUIET, IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!"

The people obeyed, obviously thinking that this is somehow all part of the show.

"Good evening, Detective."greeted Pop Tofu cheerfully, clearly under the same impression.

"This evening is certainly NOT good, Mr Tofu! A great crime is underway here..."said Wiseman, his three partners nodding along.

"What crime?!"exclaimed Lola, Chichi and Ralph all at once.

"Don´t try to deny it, Tofu! We´re onto your little game!"said Nick, pointing his baton at Chichi, who instantly glared him.

"Yes, quite correct, brother Nick. You organized this... this _event _for the purpose of commercial enterprise. With the help of this _criminal_!"said Wiseman, coming closer to Miles and pulling his wooden mask off.

Miles instantly shot an innocent grin at him.

"What commercial enterprise, Wisey?"

Wiseman instantly snorted.

"The kind, where innocent people give you money, you strangely-dressed criminal."

Several people in the crowd, including Miles laughed.

"No one had to pay for anything tonight, Detective."noted Lola.

"WHAT?!"exclaimed all four members of the brotherhood, looking at the crowd in wild surprise.

"T-then... what´s all this for?!"asked Archie, looking at the entire room in astonishment.

"Glad you asked, kid."exclaimed Miles.

He started to move around and shake his rattles while dancing comicly around all four of them.

"_Beauvillage suffer a terrible fate... everyone´s sad, and that just not great... to stop the blues and make ´em all well... me - the witch doctor cast his big spell..._"

The Beauvillagers instantly applauded and cheered him, while the Brotherhood looked around in astonishment.

"A witch doctor...? YOU?!"exclaimed Wiseman.

Miles nodded, grinning at him.

"You bet, Wisey. I be very good shaman!"

Quite a few people - including Lola and Chichi - couldn´t help but laugh at the statement.  
Wiseman and the Brotherhood were all looking at eachother in confusion.

"T-that´s impossible! W-where did you learn this stuff anyway?!"sputtered Wiseman, clearly not wanting to believe it.

"I learn from ancient tribe back in Africa."said Miles, nodding sagely.

"AFRICA?! WHAT ANCIENT TRIBE?!"

"Y-yeah... the um... _Boombaddi_ tribe. In... um..."answered Miles, inventing wildly.

"Madagascar."said Chichi, helpfully.

"MADAGASCAR?! YOU´VE NEVER _BEEN _TO MADAGASCAR!"exclaimed Wiseman, pointing his baton at Miles, now in clear panic.

"I took a correspondece-course... its nothing hard really..."Miles replied airly.

The Auditorium exploded in laughter.  
Even old Starchy or Workalot found the conversation hilarious.  
Once again, several people had trouble catching their breaths.  
Phil actually fell over the food-cart he was holding and was rolling on the floor in laughter; Billy had to hold onto the table for support and Lily was laughing so hard, that she had tears in her eyes.

On the stage, Chichi and Lola were holding on to eachother for support, while Pop and Ralph laughed like crazy.  
Nick, Tex and Archie were looking around in sheer confusion, while a deeply red-faced Wiseman was glaring Miles, who was scratching his head and grinning sheepishly, his cheeks also a bit red.

"In- in that case... SHOW ME YOUR LICENCE!"Wiseman commanded, bringing all laughter to an end.

"Licence?!"repeated Miles, chaught off-guard for a moment, as Wiseman watched him sternly.

"Yes! Your _Shaman-licence_... right now!"

There was a small moment of pure silence... before the Auditorium exploded in hilarious laughter again. Even Miles let out a hilarious laugh thistime...

"W-Wisey... look at me, man... I´m almost butt-naked in here... d´you really think I have my wallet somewhere?!"

Miles´ reply was met with even more laughter, but suddenly... Wiseman was also smiling.

In the blink of an eye, he pulled out his handcuffs and slammed them on Miles´ hands.

"YOU´RE UNDER ARREST!"he roared, making everyone go silent again.

"Huh?! What on Earth for?!"exclaimed Miles in geniune surprise.

"For practicing _Bam-boom-bunni _magic... or whatever it is, _without a licence!_"

Miles looked at him for a moment, before his face took on a mischievous grin.

With a loud bang, another smoke-bomb exploded right under his feet, shrouding the stage with smoke for a few moments.  
Pop, Ralph, Lola, Chichi, Wiseman and the Brotherhood were all coughing, and when the smoke cleared...

"HUH?!"all of them exclaimed.

The crowd also gasped in astonishment - Witch doctor Miles was nowhere to be seen.

"W-where IS he?!"roared Wiseman, looking from one place to another.

"HEY, WIIIISEEEEY!"

Everyone in the Auditorium turned their heads towards the front door. Miles was standing there, still in his handcuffs but grinning like a maniac.

"Told ya - I be very good shaman!"he exclaimed, gesturing to himself proudly.

Without another word, he turned and positively bolted out the front door.

Nick, Tex, Archie and Wiseman looked at eachother for a second, before positively scrambling off the stage.

Beauvillagers only looked on in and laughed, as the Brotherhood ran for the front door, waving their batons in the air and Wiseman screaming.

"**CATCH THAT CRIMINAL SHAMAN!**"

...


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sunday morning came, and dispite the gloomy fog was anything but dull.  
Actually, the Tofu household was already on its feet.  
That went for the elders as well as the young ones... and long before breakfast was on the table.

"My little turnips... _breakfast_..."called Mom from the kitchen happily.

Chichi´s room-door opened and not a moment too soon, Chichi, Lola, Billy and April walked out.

"About time. I´m as hungry as a pack of wolves."Chichi muttered, and the others pretty much agreed with him.

Unlike the elders, who were busily planning Day 2 of the Autumn Festival, THEY spent most of the morning trying to find out all they possibly could about yesterday´s aftermath.

Luckily, the entire show yesterday was greatly liked and appretiated by Beauvillagers at large. Chichi made it a point to have each of their team ask around before it even ended...  
Dispite the interfierence of the Brotherhood and Miles´ escape... the party actually went on for a few more hours - almost until midnight.  
Though they had to improvise a second time around, Miles´ witch doctor stunt made the work surprisingly easy for them.

"Well... at least it ended up well. And it _was _a lot of fun."said April, as they all sat down in the kitchen - she taking her place at her _Chichi honey-bun´s _side.

"That it was, sweet rose. And the fun has only just begun."nodded Mom Tofu happily, as she served them breakfast.

"We really appretiate all the help, kids. We certainly couldn´t have done it without you."said Buba, smiling at them radiantly as she helped Mom serve.

The teens returned her smile with a geniune ones.

"We´re glad to do it, Buba."said Lola sincirely, although their reasons for helping out were more than one.

"We´ll do whatever it takes, to make the festival a blast."nodded April happily.

With that said, the four teenagers dug into their breakfast happily.  
Certain, that the kids were well-attended, Mom and Buba took their leave... retreating into the living room, where Pop, Titus, Beth and Bee already were.

"I just hope... that we didn´t set the bar too high yesterday..."said Chichi between his bites.

"I know what you mean, Chichi. Several of our classmates talked to me and all of them found the Shaman stunt very cool."said Billy.

"Same with ours. Looks like _Wana Mani _became an overnight hit."nodded April.

She swallowed the piece of bread she put into her mouth and fixed a radiant smile at Lola.

"Which was also thanks to you two. You were incredible out there."

Billy gave Lola a proud look and added a loving kiss on the cheek as well.

"Totally."he said simply, making Lola blush a little as well as giggle.

"Oh, knock it off, you two. I didn´t do all that much. _Chichi _was the family´s showman thistime around."she said, grinning at her brother.

"No kidding. You played that crowd like a pro."nodded Billy, also fixing Chichi a grin.

"Even better than that, Chichi honey-bun. When you did the _Wana Mani_, you were like an absolute _rock-god_."said April, giving him her most radiant smile.

Billy and Lola grinned slyly at eachother, for Chichi instantly turned bright red, choking a bit on his food.

"D-don´t be ridicilous, April...! And... _when _are you... going to _stop_...calling me that...?!"he sputtered, punching his chest slightly between the choking.

April instantly blew him a playful raspberry.

"_Never._"she sing-songed mischievously, as she winked at him.

Billy and Lola laughed at the play-by-play... even April joining in, while Chichi was still trying to stop coughing.

"_Hocus... Pocus... Ca-ca-ca... Caramba..._"came the infamous ring of Chichi´s Gzorbial cell-phone.

"Uh-oh... the hotline!"exclaimed Chichi, instantly sprinting up the stairs, in order to evade any possibility of being overheared by the elders.

Billy, April and Lola simply carried on with their breakfast.

After a few minutes, Chichi came down and rejoined the table.

"Just spoke with little Victor Rogers. Good thing I had him and Daniel on the watch."

The three of them didn´t have to guess twice, who were the two brothers told to keep an eye on.

"Let me guess... Wisey took Miles´ shaman stunt personally."said Lola, already knowing the answer.

"Yup. He´s really out to get him. He and the Brotherhood were at the office since 7 am, planning a strike."

"_Just _great... we´re bound to have them on our doorstep before lunch."goaned Lola, slapping her forehead.

Chichi smirked.

"As luck would have it - NO."

Billy, Lola and April all looked at him confusedly.

"Daniel said, that Wisey spoke with the Mayor and Angie this morning, and they convinced him, that the festival is actually a good thing. Apparently, Wisey now thinks that Miles is simply using the festival to make money."

"Gee whiz... why would he ever think _that_...?"Lola snickered.

"Where IS Miles anyway? I haven´t seen him since he ran out of the Auditorium. Nor did anyone else, as far as I´ve heared."asked April.

Chichi instantly gave her a mischievous grin.

"At the Hidehole - where else? My guess is, that he´s laying low for the moment."

"Which is probably a good thing. I mean... yesterday was kinda cool, but maybe it´d be better for him to sit this one out. At least for today..."noted Lola.

"Speaking of which, what are the elders planning for today?"

Billy´s question brought everyone back to the problem. Not one of them knew...

"Well... perhaps we´d better go into the living room and find out, before..."Lola started to suggest, but...

"**NO WAY!**"roared Titus´ voice.

The four teens instantly rose from their chairs and carefully approached the living room.

Inside were the elders, sitting around the small living room table, looking over a few papers.  
Titus was sitting in his chair, his arms folded, a defiant expression on his face.

"But, Titus..."Pop started in a placating voice.

"Look, Jake... I´m all for fun, festivals, celebrations... even witch doctors! But this Zen-yoga nonsence is where I draw the line!"

"_Zen-yoga?!_"whispered Billy and April, while Lola and Chichi exchanged startled looks.

"I agree with Bee and Violet! Sunday is supposed to be a calm day. A day to relax and unwind yourself."said Beth, folding her arms and giving her husband a small glare.

"And you think sitting around for hours doing nothing is the best way to do that?!"Titus challenged, not changing his stance one bit.

"It will certainly help everyone harmonize. And Zen-yoga is not all about meditation, but also activity."Mom explained in a voice of neverending patience.

"You could use some harmonizing yourself, you know."said Buba, smirking a bit.

Titus humphed, turning his head away grumpily.

"Besides... Mayor Haveitall already gave us express permission to use Splashland, and several other people like Principal Knowmuch or Whiterose are very supportive of the idea."said Pop.

"I still say - NO WAY!"said Titus, humphing again.

"TITUS HUBBUB! THIS IS HAPPENING, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! THE KIDS ARE DOING ALL THEY CAN TO HELP OUT, AND YOU WILL SET A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR THEM! IS THAT CLEAR?!"roared Beth, finally losing her patience.

Grumbling a bit more to himself, Titus finally turned his head and sighed.

"All right. Fine - you win; I´ll help. Just... just don´t expect me to participate in that nonsence."

"Okay... I think we heared enough."said Chichi, moving away, the other teens following.

They swiftly retreated into Chichi´s room, taking up the exact same spaces they occupied before breakfast.

"What are we going to do? A giant party was one thing, but a massive Zen-yoga session?!"asked Lola.

"Well... Zen-yoga _is _actually fun. I like it - everytime we do it here."said April, being more than familiar with it over the years.

"HERE, April... not in Splashland!"Lola retorted.

"Maybe that´s actually a solution..."

Lola, April and Billy turned to look at Chichi, who had his arms folded, his brain clearly doing the math.

"Splashland is a brilliant place to work with... maybe... if we play this right... we _could _score a win."

He jumped to his feet and pulled out his Gzorbial cell-phone from his pocket.

"Lola, call Lily. I´m calling Phil. We´ll need all the help we can get."

Smiling at her brother, Lola instantly reached for her own cell-phone (a secret present from Billy for her last birthday).

"Tell her to meet us in the woods, and to make sure she´s not followed."

His instructions however left her confused for a moment.

"The woods? We´re going to the Hidehole?"she asked, already grasping the implication.

Chichi nodded, his eyes alight and a plan already formed.

"Yup. For this plan to work, we will need to present it in a right way. Which means, that we´ll need the help of our resident witch doctor."

...

"Okay... I´m off."said Lily happily, as she pulled on her jacket.

Her parents smiled at her, as they continued to enjoy their breakfast.

"Have fun, dear."said her father warmly.

"Oh, and Lil... try to invite that boyfriend of yours over for dinner, after today´s festival ends."her Mom added.

Lily instantly giggled.

"Which one? Michael Miles, or Big Mani?"she asked slyly.

Her mom giggled and even her dad chuckled, as he shook his head.

"I´m not sure if it makes any real difference. Its hard to say, which one of them is more interesting."he noted with a small smile.

"Big Mani! Definitely Big Mani! We´ve never had a witch doctor around the house for dinner afterall."her Mom piped up, waving her hand in the air spiritedly, as though wanting to vote on it.

The three Robinses shared a laugh.

"Okay, Mom. You asked for it. Just don´t regret that decidion, when our dinner runs off the table."Lily said, winking at the pair of them.

With a final wave to her parents, she left the house.

She couldn´t help but keep a smile on her face, as she walked trough the foggy street. She couldn´t really surpress the thought of her and her parents having a perfectly normal dinner with Miles, dressed in a witch doctor costume as a guest.  
It made her giggle again.

She was very appretiative of her boyfriend´s latest stunt - for more reasons than one...  
It was really amusing, and... well... drop-dead cute, but it also gave her awesome new inspiration.  
She had struggled for a bit lately with a point of her plot-line for the _Great Mystery 2_ book.  
Inspired by Balthazar Bunglewood´s life story, she wanted to write a similar case for Detective Razor and his team to crack - kinda like the adventure she had previously with Phil and Chichi.  
She couldn´t however write about Green Magic... not in detail, that´s for sure...  
But Miles´ witch doctor stunt gave her a brilliant idea, that solved the problem instantly. It was as though he´d lit a lightbulb in her mind, and she barely got home, when she began to scribble down plot ideas - the scenes instantly forming themselves in her mind.

She sighed lovingly.

"_He always has a way to inspire me somehow..._"

She was broken out of her thoughts, by a sound behind her. A melody from a cell-phone, she recodnized instantly. A cheezy lovesong from _Dreamboats _\- the sickeningly sweet boyband from Cygnuville.

"I _told _you to turn that thing OFF!"came a hushed whisper from somewhere behind, once more a voice Lily recodnized.

"_Mia..._"she thought with a grin, and judging by the phone´s ring-tone, she didn´t have to guess twice, who was with her.  
And it definitely wasn´t Nick.

"One moment, sis. Yeah...? Mary? Sorry... I can´t right now... I´m in a middle of a mission for my sweetheart detective... Yeah... We´re on an undercover mission! A REAL stake-out... Can you believe it?!"

Lily surpressed the urge to giggle - Candy was really one _hell _of an undercover agent.  
A mischievous grin formed on her face, as she started to speed up her pace.

"_Looks like I´m about to get some MORE inspiration..._"

She managed to put some more distance between them and her - it was easy to tell, by Mia´s angry remark.

"You brain-dead COW! We´re losing her!"

Lily instantly sped up her pace to a full-blown run. She turned at a side of the street, knowing that Mia and Candy can´t be far behind.  
It was very foggy there... she couldn´t even see the nearby forest properly, but she knew that it can´t be far ahead.

She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, but could already hear the sounds of running - from both behind AND infront of her.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hand.  
She barely had any time to react, let alone gasp or scream, as the person pulled her aside.

In a matter of seconds, she found herself behind a tree - she was in the forest!

"Shh! Gotta keep quiet now!"

"Phil!"she breathed, recodnizing the voice, though she could barely see him, owing to a combination of low light in the forest and the fog.

"Shh! Nick and Archie are on my tail - I just managed to get a bit ahead of them!"he whispered, placing a finger on his lips with his free hand.

"Mia and Candy are on mine... dunno if they saw, where we dissapeared to!"she whispered back.

Both peeked from behind the tree, but the fog was so dense, that it completly obscured the street from view. They DID however hear several running footsteps coming to a halt.

"DAMN IT!"exclaimed Nick´s voice.

"Where IS he?!"asked Archie´s voice.

"Where is SHE?!"rang Mia´s.

"Who?!"rang both Nick and Archie.

"Lily Robins! We followed her here!"Mia explained.

"We were following Phil, but..."explained Archie.

Judging by the sound of it, the four of them were very close. In fact, Lily could tell, that were it not for this dense fog, they would have seen them instantly.

"They just dissapeared!"noted Archie´s voice; Nick´s and Mia´s combined growls could be heared a moment later.

"S-see?! What did I tell you all?! The witch doctor is already doing his magic!"said Candy, and judging by her voice, she was scared.

"Oh, shut up! This damn soup is to blame! Not some crackpot shaman-stunts!"

"But, Mia...! Like I said in Freddie´s office, that´s just how it always starts! Witch doctors are _dangerous_!"

Lily stiffled a giggle, unsure what was funnier - Candy´s statement, or Phil´s hushed and bewildered "huh?!".

"For the last time, you brain-dead moron - that´s just YOUR stupid theory! You believe in the dumbest things! Its why you deserted your post yesterday, running like a complete scaredy-cat!"

"But, Mia...! I told you - he´s _scary_. And I don´t want to get cursed! Its why I warned Freddie about this! All kinds of bad stuff could happen to him! Like I said... remember the _Shadows of Himmuana_?!"

Lily quickly chaught the look Phil gave her, and really had to do everything she could, not to giggle - that look of sheer and absolute bewilderment was positively adorable.

"And I told YOU - that´s just an old horror-movie from the 70´s! And the lamest one I´ve EVER seen!"exclaimed Mia, clearly losing her patience.

Lily and Phil couldn´t argue with that statement - it ran thick with truth.  
Both of them had seen the said movie at some point, especially during old-timer horror-marathons on TV, and while the movie itself isn´t actually so bad... it can hardly be discribed as a horror.  
Heck... even 8 year-olds watch it without being scared...

"Beware the witch doctor´s curse... for it will only make your life worse..."

Thistime, even Phil had to stiffle a laugh, as they heared Candy repeat the age-old warning from the movie - from one of the cheeziest scenes in their country´s entire movie history.

"For the last time - DROP IT! You repeat that stupid warning again, and MY FIST will make your life worse!"roared Mia.

"But its true, Mia! Dark powers are at work, and if we´re not careful... the witch doctor will put a curse on my beloved Freddie!"

Phil and Lily looked at eachother, sharing a small grin before directing their attention back to the street. They heared Mia´s shriek of rage and some hurried movement.

"Lemme go, monkey-face! I´m gonna bash some sence into this slow-witted sibling of mine!"

"Forget it, blondie! Let´s get back to the office! Brother Fred will need to know about this, and we still have to plan for the festival."

With a final few sounds of struggle from Nick and Mia, the foursome were clearly leaving.

Phil and Lily waited for a few more moments, before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Well... that´s that. Let´s get to the Hidehole."said Phil happily.

Lily nodded, but when he moved, both of them just realized that they were still holding hands.  
Looking at their hands for a moment, they quickly looked at eachother, exchanging a small smile.

"Its probably a good idea. At least we won´t lose one another in this fog."Lily offered.

Phil nodded with a small smile, and together they set out deeper into the forest, already following a familiar path as they walked hand-in-hand.  
Strangely enough... dispite the fact, that they were now both in a relationship with someone else, neither of them minded.  
It was as if it were the most normal thing in the world - they were relaxed and comfortable, simply as close friends.  
It didn´t take long for them (a few simple moments to move deeper enough into the forest and make sure they weren´t being followed or overheared) to start talking and joking with eachother.

"I mean... I always knew Candy was a bit... well... but _seriously_. On the other hand... she really does seem like a good addition to the Brotherhood."said Lily, already seeing a new character for her book.

Phil snorted a laugh.

"I know what you mean. But really... And SHE was Chichi´s first crush?!"

Lily grinned.  
She knew, that Phil was never exactly very supportive of it, but always tried to help out his best friend as much as he could, whenever Chichi tried to impress her.  
Needless to say, that Chichi was clearly knocking on the wrong door.

"I mean... imagine what a pair those two would make..."said Phil, shaking his head at the prospect of it.

"Well... opposites always attract. And you should know, _little guy_... when you´re in love with someone, you can easily lose track of such things."she said with a wink.

However, her reply somehow made him look to the ground, a sad look forming on his face.

"Huh? What´s wrong?"she asked, now concerned.

"Nothing..."he replied weakly, still looking at the ground.

She squeezed his hand a bit to get his attention.

"Doesn´t look like nothing to me. Come on - you can tell me."she said gently.

It took a moment, but Phil squeezed back still watching the ground.

"Nicolette and I... well... we..."

Lily didn´t need Detective Razor´s powers of deduction to know what was wrong.

"You had a fight, huh?"she coaxed, her voice going even gentler.

Phil nodded, clearly upset about it.

"She´s angry at me for not paying much attention to her during the show yesterday..."he started.

Lily instantly felt a twinge of anger at the girl.

"_Well, _maybe _she should have just helped out with the rest of us - then she´d have all the attention she wanted!_"she thought, but knew better than to say it outloud.

"... and today, she wanted to come to the Hidehole with me, but..."

Lily nodded.

"Its a secret place, I know. All of us gave Miles and Chichi our word, that we won´t tell anyone about it. And I don´t blame them for it. The place is best, when being left a secret from everyone. You didn´t actually tell her about it, did you?"

Phil shook his head.

"No. I didn´t even mention the word _Hidehole_. I just said, that I´m meeting with Chichi, Lola, Billy and Miles in a secret place, and... well it all went down from there..."

"_Looks like someone doesn´t like to be left out._"Lily thought, narrowing her eyes.

Though supportive of Phil´s relationship, she couldn´t really say that she likes the girl much... actually, she was liking her less and less.

She felt Phil squeeze her hand again, and decided in a heartbeat - for Phil´s sake... she will give her the benefit of the doubt.  
For now anyway...

She stopped their pace, let go of his hand and placed her other one on his shoulder.

"Look... just try and talk to her. And calmly. Explain your side of the story and listen to hers. I´m sure, you´ll be able to reach a compromise."she advised, fully aware that he was completly new at this.

Phil nodded, apparently thinking it over but the sad look had yet to vanish from his face.

"Hey... don´t take it so hard. It was just a little love-spat, that´s all. Things like that sometimes happen in a relationship, but its not the end of the world... Quite the opposite actually..."she said sagely, grinning as she saw his bewildered look.

"Know what´s the best thing about a love-spat?"

Phil shook his head, now completly confused. Even more, as he saw her grin turn into a mischievous one.

"The _making-up_."she said slyly, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

That did the trick. Phil instantly erupted in laughter, with her joining in a bit too.  
He looked a whole lot better - calmer and more cheerful.

Seemingly without a thought, Phil grabbed her in a gentle, friendly hug; Lily returning it happily.

"Thanks, _Miss Love-doctor_."he joked.

Lily giggled at the new title, using one of her hands to ruffle his hair affectionately.

"Anytime, _little-guy_... anytime."

They released eachother and renewed their pace.

"Hey... I think I see the others there..."exclaimed Phil, pointing ahead.

Lily looked at the place, and indeed... the fog was less dense around here, and a bit further in the distance, the outlines of four people could be seen.

"Come on, let´s go join them. Race you..."said Phil, winking at her and speeding up along the way.

She grinned again, happy to see her friend acting like his old-self again.

"You´re on, _little-guy_!"she called, running after him.

...

In no time at all, the entire group made it out of the forest and walked on a familiar clearing.  
Each of them smiled at the sight of the building ahead, but neither of their smiles could possibly match Chichi´s.

„Ah… _Hole sweet Hole_…"he breathed happily.

Billy, Lola, April and Lily shared a little laugh. It was obvious, that the little blonde missed this place much more than he let on in the last few days.

Unsurprisingly, they saw Miles´ blue van parked not far from the Hidehole.

Chichi pulled out his keys and opened the door, the others following.

The moment they entered and Chichi closed the door, all of them couldn´t hide their surprise.

The place looked great.  
It was pleasantly warm inside, there was some new furniture added, even some pictures and ornaments - it looked fit to live in.

They could also hear music playing from the living room. A song, that instantly lit a bright smile on Chichi´s face.  
He quickly pulled off his long-sleeved red vest and placed it on the hanger before practicly racing there.

"Oh, brother..."muttered Lola, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.

The others pulled down their coats, mimicking Chichi and placing them on the hanger as well - the hanger having more than enough space for them all.

As they entered the living room, they couldn´t help but laugh.

Chichi and Miles were dancing together to the jumpy, melodic song, played on the boombox, singing along.

_Why should we figure out any new cool stuff._  
_When we can simply stick with the old stuff._  
_Old music - rock n roll - that is a real blast._  
_Forget the new future - stick with the cool past._

"Don´t they look just adorable?"asked April, giggling along with Lily, watching the pair of them jump around and play air-guitairs.

Chuckling to herself, Lola approached the boombox but allowed the song to approach its end.

"_COOL PAST!_"Miles and Chichi screamed out with the final tones of the song, before erupting into cheers as if they were at a concert.

April and Lily joined in the applause still giggling, as Lola shut the boombox off.

"Okay, you two - take five."she said good-naturedly, grinning at the pair of them.

Blushing a bit, both boys fixed her sheepish looks.

"Sure thing, big sis..."sing-songed Miles.

"Wow..."breathed Phil, looking around.

So did the others. In the wake of the music and Miles´ and Chichi´s dancing, not one of them payed any attention to the room.

There were quite a few boxes there, scattered all around the room and the main working table was filled with materials, tools, paints and several other stuff. Including strange little dolls of some sort.

"Looks like you got pretty busy in here..."noted Lola, looking around at the dolls.

Billy, Phil, April and Lily approached, Lily taking the time to hug her boyfriend while he scratched his head, again grinning sheepishly.

"Well, yeah... I mean, I knew I had to lay low for a bit, but that doesn´t mean I have to laze around. Not when there´s _greed _to make..."

April took one of the dolls into her hands and looked it over with interest.

"Did you do these? They´re very nice."she asked, Phil and Billy taking one into their hands as well.

"Well... yeah. You guys can all have one - I´ve got loads more upstairs."said Miles, hugging Lily back.

Lola looked around at the sheer number of boxes, noticing that one or two of them were already filled with these dolls.

"Upstairs?! How many did you make?"

"Hm... about one thousand, I think."Miles answered, pondering a bit on it.

"ONE THOUSAND?!"roared all of the teens at once.

Miles blushed a bit, especially under his girlfriend´s stunned look.

"T-they´re not that hard to make ya´know... And I´ve made them in quite a few shapes and sizes, so..."

"W-wow... this is amazing... you must have been up for most of the night."said Phil, looking at him in awe.

"Nah, Phil... not really. I hit the hay at about two in the morning, but I just got so excited at the prospect, that I couldn´t sleep for long."

Lily kissed him on the cheek, smiling at him gently.

"I didn´t know, you were so crafty."

Miles grinned at her, blushing deep-red.

"Oh, come on, Lil... Its just a little old skill I learnt as a kid."

His reply made all of them fix him curious looks.

"You see... we learnt all kinds of stuff back at the orphanage. Ol´ Count Louie couldn´t really afford to buy any toys for us, so he taught us how to make our own. Also... I may not look it, but I was actually an ace in all the practical classes at school."

"Its really a cool skill."said Billy smilingly.

The others also nodded, making Miles blush and grin sheepishly again.

"Awww, shucks..."

Lola looked around the room again, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Let me guess... you plan to sell them, right?"she asked slowly.

"What kind of a question is that, Lola? Of _course _I plan to sell them. Quite cheap, mind you... Just thought we should offer something to make the festival a memorable one, ya´know."said Miles, making exaggerated gestures as if trying to make a point.

The teens responded with laughter.

"Yup. _Business_."nodded Lily, making them all laugh again.

"Also... a poor witch doctor you´d be, if you didn´t have your magic dolls..."noted Phil, grinning slyly.

Miles laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

"You guessed it, little guy..."

Suddenly there was a loud sound of a grumbling stomach, making the teens roar with laughter and Miles blush deep-red.

"Oops... guess in all the excitement... I... um..."

"Kinda forgot breakfast, huh?"asked Lily, wiggling her eyebrows slyly.

In a matter of moments, they moved to the kitchen.  
Lola, Billy and April were once more susprised at how well-equipped it really was. It had lots of food and snacks, most of which could definitely not be found at the Tofu household.

It took no time at all for Miles to fix something up for himself, while Chichi opened several snacks for all of them.  
Lola, Chichi, Billy and April filled everyone in on the elder´s plan for today.

"Zen-yoga? You mean that thing your folks do?"asked Miles, taking another bite of his sandwitch.

"Exactly."Lola confiremed.

"Its a cool passtime. Man... sometimes I wish I had such cool folks when I was a kid."said Miles, for a moment thinking to himself.

Lola and Chichi looked at eachother for a moment - each thinking the same thing.  
Though Mom and Pop certainly pulled off their fair share of wacky stunts, both young Tofus loved them very much and since knowing Miles they´ve come to realize, that not all kids were (and are) so lucky...

"I´ll gladly join in on the fun. Have no fear - _Big Mani _on the job."he exclaimed, making a mock-sallute.

"There´s just one more thing we have to solve. The Brotherhood - Wisey´s really out to get you."reminded Lola.

Phil and Lily snickered.

"You can say that again... they were following us and they even have Mia and Candy on their side."said Phil.

The pair of them quickly recounted the tale from an hour ago, including what they overheared.  
Unsurprisingly, all of them were left laughing.

"T-that´s a good one..."choked Miles, banging his fist on the table as he continued to laugh.

"Tell me about it. She actually repeated that cheezy old warning...? _Too much_."chortled Chichi.

"Seriously... whoever believes something like that... oughta have his head examined."giggled April, shaking her head.

"Well... this is the _Brotherhood of the Wise _we´re talking about. I wouldn´t put it past Wisey to believe in such stuff... I mean... with how clumsy he is... it sometimes looks as if he WAS cursed."said Lola, laughing a bit.

The others laughed too, but Miles was not laughing. On the contrary, he was dead quiet and had a frozen look on his face.  
Slowly, but surely... a giant smile was spreading on his face.

"WAHOO! THAT´S IT!"he roared, jumping off his chair and startling everyone.

He moved across the kitchen towards Lola and instantly gave her a small hug, which looked kinda wierd because she was still sitting on her chair.

"Lola - you´re a _genius_! Haha... I know _exactly _what to do now!"

He kissed her on the cheek very soundly before positively racing from the kitchen, calling a loud "Thanks, big sis."

Blushing a bit, Lola shook her head.

"Uh-oh... I think I´ve just woken a sleeping giant."she said.

Chichi snickered.

"More like a sleeping shaman."he noted, the others chuckling a bit at his little joke.

Helping himself to a handfull of the snacks, Chichi placed one of them into his mouth and adopted a determined look.

"Okay... while Miles is preparing what he´s preparing... let´s go over the plan for today. I´ve had a few ideas and we have a few things to prepare. So... here´s what we do..."

...


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Lola, Chichi, April and Billy walked behind Mom, Pop, Beth, Titus, Buba, Bee and Ralph, surrounded by eager applause of the crowd.  
Politely waving back, the elders were paying absolutely no attention to the hushed conversation right behind them.

"Woah... that´s a big crowd. And Splashland only has _one _enterance. How does Miles expect to get in with everyone watching?"whispered Lola, looking around and waving as well.

"I expect, that´s just the kind of thing, he´s a pro in."giggled April.

"You bet. I wouldn´t be surprised, if he´s already inside."snickered Chichi.

As they moved along, they couldn´t help but spy a familiar face peeking from behind the crowd - a badly disguised Detective Wiseman.  
Though he had a fake long beard, a large hat, a long red flannel-shirt and plain light-blue pants, it really wasn´t hard to recodnize him.  
That... as well as the fact, that Candy was standing right next to him, dressed in the very same attire, Miles reported she had on yesterday... but at least she left out the ski-mask thistime...

All four teens snickered a bit, finding the pair of them completly ridicilous.

"So... it looks like the Brotherhood is already here."noted Billy, smirking a bit as he remembered Chichi´s plan for them.

And he could tell, judging by the girls´ giggles, that he certainly wasn´t the only one.

"Are you sure, that they´ll just wait and not go inside with the rest of the people?"asked April, moving a bit closer to Chichi.

"Positive. I´ve had Chloe drop a subtle little clue for them a few hours ago."

His reply made Billy, Lola and April fix him curious looks, even as they walked.

"Drop a subtle little clue?"inquired Lola, raising an eyebrow at her snickering brother.

"Well... start a rumour actually. Remember me calling her from the _Hole_, when we started planning? I asked her to tell a few of the other girls from our class, that the witch doctor will be appearing, making a grand enterance trough the front door."

April instantly giggled at the explanation, catching on to the idea.

"If she said it to Florence or Alice, the whole Beauvillage will know by now."she said, knowing that her two classmates, though sweet and nice, liked to gossip around... and they certainly wouldn´t keep quiet about such juicy news.

"My thoughts exactly."nodded Chichi, keeping a perfectly innocent expression on his face.

Lola smirked, fixing him a grin.

"Sneaky little lion."she muttered, using an old pet-name for her baby brother.

A really old one, since Billy looked on curiously, completly unfamiliar with it. Chichi however fixed his sister a happy smile.

"You haven´t called me that in ages."he noted.

"Well, it _still _stands."she replied with a wink.

They reached the enterance door of Splashland, when Mayor Haveitall came to greet them all. After a few little words of greeting, he turned to the crowd along with Mom and Beth.

"Well then... fellow Beauvillagers... follow us. Hope you´ve brought your swimsuits... The second day of the Beauvillage Autumn Festival is about to begin."exclaimed the Mayor jovially, making the crowd applaude once more.

"Good old Mayor Haveitall..."chuckled Chichi.

"Yup... a real stage-hog."nodded Lola, rolling her eyes.

As they turned to the front door, they found that it was being open by a maintenance-man.  
Dressed in light-blue overalls, with a matching cap on his head, the chubby, bearded man gave them all a smile.

"Allow me..."he said brightly but in a hoarse voice, making a small bow and allowing Mayor Haveitall to go first.

The mayor was followed by the Tofu elders, the teens and finally the lined-up crowd.  
Titus and Ralph instantly made their way towards the rather large counter, which was commonly used by Splashland´s staff to manage the dressing-rooms.  
And it wouldn´t be any different now...

Billy grinned, as he watched his father take to the dullest possible duty for tonight.  
He knew perfectly, that by voulenteering for it, he would not have to take part for the _Zen-yoga _practice.  
But by the looks of it... he and Ralph will really have their hands full for quite some time, before everything starts.

As the elders were escorted trough a different door - the staff door - Lola, Billy, April and Chichi followed.

"Come on, come on... its time to start soon."said the maintenance-man, holding the door open for them and ushering them inside.

The teens entered the staff area´s antechamber.  
As planned, they waited there for the adults to get changed, before going in themselves.  
They busied themselves with simply looking around at the pictures on the wall, before noticing, that the maintenance-man had followed them in.  
Chichi instantly folded his arms and smirked.

"Are you here to help us with today´s show too?"asked April, eying the maintenance-man uncertainly, while Chichi snickered.

"Of course he is, April. Afterall... we can´t have the show without our main star, right _Miles_?"

Chichi´s responce made them gasp, and looked at the maintentance-man.  
Pulling off his fake-beard and cap, Miles instantly fixed them a giant grin.

"T-that was YOU?!"exclaimed Lola, a little shocked, looking at his chubby complection, only to have Miles reveal the stuffing inside his overalls.

"Well, yeah... had to get in here somehow, didn´t I? What gave me away, Chich?"asked Miles.

Chichi´s smirk became much more pronounced at the question.

"Oh... just the fact, that I don´t remember any of the Splashland maintenance-men being around, when we were preparing everything in here two hours ago. Plus there was one importaint thing - YOU opened the front door. The mayor personally borrowed the keys to Titus, when we were finished with the preparations, remember? How on Earth would a maintenance-man get those keys? And, since the Brotherhood was probably watching Splashland before we even arrived, who _else _would be able to enter without attracting any kind of attention?"

Lola couldn´t help but chuckle, understanding now and looking at the pair of them with mild-exaspiration.

"Now I see, where Lily got the first inspiration for her book."she said, giggling.

"You´re a real master of disguise, Miles."April praised brightly, making Miles chuckle sheepishly.

"And _you _are an awesome detective, Chichi honey-bun."she added, flashing an affectionate look on Chichi, who instantly blushed but grinned proudly.

Just then, Beth came into the antechamber, a white t-shirt over her swimming suit.

"Okay, kids. Your turn now. Oh, good to see that you´re here too, Miles."she said, ushering them into the staff-dressing room.

As they prepared for the event a few hours ago, all of them also left their swimsuits and other clothes in the lockers.  
Unlike the public dressing-rooms, the staff one wasn´t divided into _men´s _and _women´s_.  
Luckily, it had two opposing lines of lockers, so the solution was simple - _men´s _was on the left, _women´s _on the right.

"Okay, get dressed quickly - we´re due to start in a few minutes."Beth instructed, taking her leave towards the pool.

Miles and Chichi turned and rushed to one side, April to the other, but Billy halted Lola with a mischievous look on his face.

"And remember - _no peeping_."he sing-songed teasingly, not able to resist.

Lola giggled, and gave him a swift peck on the lips.

"That goes double for you, you perv."she said with a wink, before letting go and following April.

Chuckling to himself, Billy made his way to the lockers, which were nicely hidden from view from the ones on the other side of the room.  
Opening the locker he chose for himself previously, Billy pulled off his jacket.  
As he did so, he saw a half-naked Miles pull out his witch doctor costume, the wooden mask already on the bench.

Chichi, who just slipped on his swimming-trunks, picked a walkie-talkie up from his side of the bench.

"Phil, we´re all getting ready here. What about you guys? Are you in position?"

The walkie-talkie was silent for a few moments, but soon enough Phil´s voice came up.

"_Yeah. We´re in position, Chichi. The whole crowd is already inside, so its just us and the _Wise barons_._"

Chichi and Miles snickered.

"Okay... so both of you are ready to begin?"asked Chichi.

"_Yup. Ready, willing and able._"came Lily´s happy reply.

"Perfect. We´re counting on you - _Operation Fog Phantom _begins."

"_Yes, Sir!_"came the collective reply of both Phil and Lily.

Billy couldn´t help but laugh, even as he was pulling on his own swimming trunks.

"Operation Fog Phantom?"

Chichi grinned at him in responce, wiggling his eyebrows.

"We needed a cool name, didn´t we?"

Billy grinned back, remembering the plan Chichi put together in the Hidehole.

"Well... this is sure to get the Brotherhood off our backs for the entire evening."said Chichi, slaming his locker-door closed, and walking away.

As Billy followed, Miles grinned deviously.

"And if it isn´t... _Big Mani _have _backup-plan_."he said, taking one more little thing from his locker and hiding it carefully in his witch doctor disguise.

...

The scene outside very much resembled yesterday...  
A completly deserted street, covered in fog...  
Dispite the fact, that unlike Town Hall Square, Splashland was surrounded by various buildings and situated between three different streets, the setting was still giving out a very creepy atmosphere.

And yet... even in this atmosphere, girlish giggles could be heared...

"What´re you giggling at, Blondie?!"growled Nick, as he patroled their side of the street with his teammate for the operation.

Mia, who was dressed quite normally (a simple long-sleeved dark-blue jumper, long baggy dark-green pants with lots of pockets and dark-blue sneakers) wasn´t able to stiffle another giggle.

"_You_, of course. You look totally ridicilous, _long-nose_."

Nick blushed while growling.  
He had a long overcoat, ripped jeans and boots - an attire, that wouldn´t be out-of-place on a rock concert... and to add to the image, he had a long-haired blonde wig on his head.

"Hey! Operation Inquisitor is an _undercover operation_! We HAD to disguise ourselves!"he growled in his defence.

But it only made Mia´s giggles upgrade into laughter.

"Well, brilliant disguises - all four of you."she noted, almost unable to laugh anymore.

She laughed like crazy for the past fifteen minutes - eversince all the people gathered inside Splashland and the Brotherhood regrouped to start the operation, dividing themselves into three teams of two.

She couldn´t even decide, who looked silliest...  
Besides Nick, Detective Wiseman looked totally hillarious in his own disguise and the remaining two members of the Brotherhood didn´t leave them to shame either...  
Tex, who apparently borrowed his attire from his father´s _Home-fix-it_, looked like a working-man - complete with a safety-helmet, a tool-kit, and even a large fake brown mustache, that made him look utterly ridicilous.  
Archie looked even worse - leaving his signature baseball cap out of this one, he was dressed in clothes that were obviously picked for him by his Aunt Mildred... even with a little bow-tie, and to complete the image, he replaced his signature glasses with fake round ones.  
In short... he looked like a total nerd.

"Humph... whatever, Mia."replied Nick, deliberately looking the other way.

Mia grinned at the moody reply, quickly gave him a peck on the cheek, making him turn his face back at her and making her flash him an affectionate smirk.

"Liven up, _rock-star_..."she said simply, making him chuckle... if a bit grumpily.

Actually finding this adorable, she made him stop for a bit and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Actually... I was thinking, that you _should _wear this getup once in a while..."

Nick face took on a smirk, that matched that of hers.

"You´re one crazy blondie... Never thought you´d be into such a thing..."

Mia snorted in responce.

"Says the boy, who´s suddenly into dressing-up?"she challenged, making them both laugh.

"Well... as long, as you don´t get any wacky ideas... like me _cross-dressing _or something..."he said, adding a note of humor.

"Eww! Wouldn´t dream of it, monkey-face - you´d make for one UGLY girl..."she replied, giggling a bit at the prospect.

"_Shut up._"replied Nick, giving out a low growl before locking lips with her.

The kiss dragged on for a few moments, passionate and heated as any of their love-spats...  
Suddenly however... they separated, as they heared a sound somewhere nearby.

"What was that?!"exclaimed Mia, looking around, trying to see more in the fog.

"Quiet..."breathed Nick, straining his ears.

They remained quite still, keeping on the lookout for anything...  
A strange sound could be heared somewhere not far in front of them - kinda... like the sound of rolling wheeles.

"_Wana-wana_..."came another sound - the sound of a deep voice.

Nick instanly drew his baton with one hand, and reached for Mia´s hand with the other.  
Mia gripped his hand tightly, and pulled out the walkie-talkie with her free one.  
The pair of them started to walk slowly and stealthily towards the place where they heared the sound.

"_Wise One_, we´re onto something in here..."Mia reported in a hushed voice.

"_Be careful, you two_..."came Candy´s voice in reply.

"Shut up, air-head. Me and Nick aren´t scaredy-cats like you!"said Mia, flaring-up at once.

"Quiet!"growled Nick.

"_Wana-wana_..."came the voice again.

Nick squinted his eyes and even blew some of the wig´s hair from his eyes, calculating that the voice wasn´t very far...

"Where the hell..."he breathed.

"LOOK!"exclaimed Mia, pointing to the spot on the left, a few more feet away from them.

There, hazy in the fog, were the outlines of a figure - a figure, both of them instantly recodnized.

"ITS HIM!"roared Mia.

"AFTER HIM!"roared Nick, as they saw the figure suddenly moving away.

Still hand-in-hand, the pair of them ran after it trough the fog, gaining speed into a full-blown run.

"Attention! _Wise Two _is in pursuit of the target! We´ve got him on the run!"reported Mia, as Nick let go of her hand, and picking up the pace in order to catch up.

But that was proving to be more and more difficult...  
Slowly but surely... Nick was running out of breath.  
Nevertheless it only promted him to speed up, determined to catch his target at any cost.

He finally suceeded to cut down a significant portion of the space separating him from his escaping target, and suddenly got an idea.

Mounting all the remaining strength he could muster, he jumped... launching himself forward with his arms spread wide, in an attempt to sieze the figure...

But then... something unpredictable happened...

The figure was almost within his reach when suddenly... it dissapeared!

Nick´s hands, that were miliseconds away from reaching the figure suddenly went trough thin-air!

**BAAAANNNNG!**

The entire street echoed with a gong-like soung, that seemed to resonate everywhere around...  
A sound, that was followed by an ear-splitting howl of pain.

"NICK! NICK! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"Mia screamed panicly, as she finally reached him trough the thick fog.

She found her boyfriend lying on the ground, clutching his throbbing head near a big post-box.  
A post-box, that... by the looks of it... suffered a powerful hit itself.

"Are you okay?"she asked urgently, instantly at his side.

"J-just... _peachy_... ouch!"Nick exclaimed, still rolling on the ground.

"Shut up! Lemme see it!"said Mia, in the same urgent tone.

Quickly allowing her to do so, Mia double-checked him.  
He´d sustained quite a bump, but... nevertheless... he _did _seem all right.  
She quickly looked at the post-box and put two and two together.

"Are you _**nuts?! **_Don´t do things like that! Why´d you jump into that thing for anyway?!"

"You don´t get it...!"mumbled Nick urgently.

"Well, YOU just DID!"

Nick quickly shook his head, and grabbed her hand.

"Not THAT! Mia - I _almost _had him! But he just... vanished!"

Mia instantly fixed him an incredulous look.

"You must´ve hit your head too hard!"she said with a note of panic.

"NO! I´m telling you - he _just __**vanished!**_"

Mia shook her head, unable to belive it.

"D-don´t be ridicilous, monkey-face! People don´t just vanish into thin-air!"she replied, determined to keep a tight hold on her logic.

Suddenly however, the walkie-talkie came to life - transmitting Archie´s voice.

"Wise Three_ in pursuit of the witch doctor! We have him on the run in our sector!_"

That made both Nick and Mia look at eachother in alarm.

"THEIR sector?! But that´s..."Mia breathed, now actually sounding scared.

"On the other side of _2nd street_!"exclaimed Nick, his breathing quickening.

It was on the completly opposite side indeed... and both were well aware, that there was simply no way someone could run from their sector to Tex and Archie´s in such a small space of time.

"W-what the hell is going on in here?!"exclaimed Mia.

Nick rose to his feet and picked up his fallen baton.

"I dunno, Blondie... But I´m gonna find out what!"he said determinedly, reaching for her hand.

Once more hand-in-hand, the pair of them ran back, unaware of a person, who was hiding in the nearby bushes.

Watching the pair of them dissapear into the fog again, Phil Conners snickered, emerging from his hiding place.  
In his hands was a remote control - the kind that´s used for toy-cars.  
He also picked up his walkie-talkie, and placed it neatly into his pocket.

"Well... its Lily´s turn thistime. Better go closer and try to see, what´s going on."he muttered to himself.

Taking the remote-control into both hands again, he pointed it towards the bushes.  
Sure enough, the thing he was controling came forth...

It was a simple skate-board, but was now equipped with the motor from an large old toy-car.  
Lying on it was a figure made of cardboard-paper - a figure made to resemble the outlines of Miles in his witch doctor costume.  
And... placed under it was a simple telescope-pole, which could be lowered or raised trough the remote-control...  
One beep from the remote, and the pole would errect the paper-dummy again... or make it fall onto the board...  
Heck... it was even equipped with a small dictaphone, which replayed Miles´ witch doctor chant with a simple push of a button.

Suddenly, his own walkie-talkie came to life. He could already hear, that Lily´s voice was still rich with laughter.

"_Okay, Phil... my turn is over now. The two _Wise Barons _on my side seem to have... um... _chaught eachother.

Laughing... and kind of wishing, he could see that, he replied.

"Okay... I´ll get into a new position and launch another _Phantom Attack_."

Placing the walkie-talkie into his pocket, he set out into the fog.  
He already knew, a few hours back in the Hidehole, that this mission is really going to be lots of fun...

...

At the poolside of Splashland there was definitely much fun to be had...

"Heh... this _zen-yoga _thing is really kinda fun."said Billy to his girlfriend, grinning as they resumed the position they were in.

"Actually, _yeah_... from time to time, anyway..."said Lola, winking at him.

A loud splash rang not far from them, and the pair of them looked in that direction, just in time to see Chichi´s and April´s heads appear on the surface next to a large green mat - inflated and just large enough for two people.  
And theirs wasn´t the only mat floating around in the pool.

The pool was actually full of them - all part of the "zen-yoga ritual", devised by Mom and Bee.

The ritual itself, as explained to the crowd by the two women, was composed of three phases...

_The calm phase _\- assuming a simple mediating position and calming oneself.  
It was easily the least liked by the youngsters and most prefered by older ones, like Mayor Haveitall for instance...

_The activity phase_, required a partner and the pair took turns in helping their partner maintain some sort of physical activity.  
This one offered a few very interesting sights.  
The teenagers took turns in performing various feats and in some cases, there were even small groups of friends, who even turned this phase into a kind of contest amongst eachother.  
In the case of the adults, there were actually some that took to this phase with enthusiasm, welcoming the chance for some excersize, but not being so extravagant in it as the youngsters...

The third phase - _the coordination phase_, was easily the most prefered and liked by almost everyone.  
It also required a pair, and it involved the floating mats in the pool.  
The pair got onto them and tried to balance themselves on the mat without falling into the pool.  
And though it looked simple enough, the truth was that the slightest wrong move caused the pair to fall in an instant.

Just like April and Chichi...  
But just like them... every single fall from everyone, who fell into the pool was followed by laughter.

"Oh, Chichi... we´ll _never _get it right, if you can´t keep your balance..."said April, giggling at him and reaching for the side of the pool.

"Hey, it takes _two _to balance this thing out... so I´m not the only one at fault here."Chichi shot back, but was chuckling too.

No sooner did the pair of them reach the side of the pool, than another pair - Steve and Cherie, jumped onto the now-vacant mat.

"Looks like you´ll have to wait for another mat to become available."said Billy, grinning at the younger pair.

Neither Chichi nor April looked, like they minded.

"Hey, no worry... you know, that another one will be free..."Chichi started, but didn´t even finish, as another pair on the right side (Liam and Oliver) fell in, causing a rather large splash... mostly because of Liam´s weight.

"... sooner, than you´d think."finished April, giggling again, watching Oliver and Liam´s heads reappear on the surface and Oliver splashing his best friend´s face playfully.

Chichi and April got out of the pool, but sat down on its edge, still keeping their legs in the water.  
Lola and Billy stopped their _activity phase_, and joined the two, dipping their legs into the pool too.

"_Too much! _This is turning out even better, than I planned."noted Chichi, looking around with a giant smile on his face.

"Everyone is really having a blast. You were right, little brother - all it took was presenting it the right way and... _jackpot_."nodded Lola, also smiling as she turned her sights at the various places of the pool.

She could see many of her classmates all around, simply enjoying themselves.  
She also spied Angie and Professor Philips trying the mat again... with Professor Philips holding her in his arms, bridal-style - which was probably about the only position, that kept them from falling in for more than a few seconds... but still ending up with the same result.

"Come now, Johnatan... its not so hard... look..."

All four of them looked around to see, that Buba had obviously suceeded to get Mayor Havitall to try a bit of the _activity phase_.  
With her help, the mayor (though much younger than Buba herself) was actually starting to get the hang of it.

On the other side of the pool´s hall were Mom and Bee, encircled by other adults - all doing the _calm phase_.

And the center of the pool was the one, which had the most activity of the young ones.  
Pop was kindly helping some of the younger kids, like Victor Rogers and his friends, as they tried more and more complicated positions.  
And Pop certainly wasn´t the only adult helping the kids...  
In fact, quite a few of the other parents were paired with their offspring - the zen-yoga making them spend quality-time together.

But easily the most likable, was of course... Beauvillage´s resident witch doctor.

"We really owe much of it to Miles, though... without him... it wouldn´t be such a success."noted Lola.

Since the start of the event, Miles took to his role with much enthusiasm, and acted as the perfect ice-breaker for the occasion.  
Thanks to his jumping, chanting and joking around, no one found the notion of this giant zen-yoga session embaressing or strange...  
Thanks to him, no one was shy or anxious about being laughed at... everyone was just enjoying themselves and having fun together - his bright and sunny mood was simply contagious.

And of course, Miles didn´t hesitate to join in on the fun of the zen-yoga.  
Putting his witch doctor mask away, he showed off some of his impressive stances for the _activity phase_ to an eager crowd, directed the _calm phase _for a few times (doing quite an excellent job of it), and even partnering some of the young ones for the _coordination phase_.  
And he was certainly a darling of not just the young ones... but simply EVERYONE around.

The people actually couldn´t get enough of him...  
Many have even brought along their cameras and were taking pictures of him, as though he were some kind of a celebrity.

"Wow... will you look at that..."breathed Billy, as they all spotted him, over the crowd in the pool.

Grinning from ear to ear, and surrounded by the applause of so many around, Miles jumped onto the mat, holding two five-year-old kids on his broad shoulders, raising a yet another wave of cheers, as he balanced on the mat perfectly, the two children positively shrieking with joy.

"He´s really great with kids."breathed Lola in wonder, seeing a different side of him and wondering, how Lily would be taking this sight if she were here.

"Well... he _did _grow up in an orphanage. And from what he told me, it was a tradition around their place, that the older kids looked out for the younger ones... acting as both siblings and playmates."

Chichi´s explanation made all four of them watch Miles in silence for a few more moments.  
Watching him play around with the children was really giving all of them a better idea, where Michael Miles came from...  
And not for the first time... all four of them couldn´t help but wonder, if Miles would be the same if he had been raised in a normal, loving family...

"Hey, guys..."came a voice, snapping them out of their line of thought.

All four looked around to see Chloe ( looking quite stunning in her bathing-suit) standing right next to them.  
She was one of the rare few in Splashland right now, who weren´t wet at all.  
All four of them knew full-well _why _\- she didn´t know how to swim...

"Hey, Chloe... having fun?"asked April politely, patting the spot next to her, inviting her to sit down.

Chloe however shook her head and remained standing.

"Loads, April. But I really wanna try the _coordination phase_, and I was wondering... if I could borrow your yoga-partner for a while."

Lola and Billy shared a small knowing look, while Chichi and April smiled back at her.

"Sure... I don´t mind. Do _you _mind, Chichi?"asked April, turning her sights at Chichi, who shook his head.

"Not in the slightest."he chirped cheerfully, as he got up and approached Chloe.

Taking her hand, the pair of them waited for a vacant floating mat, and then jumped onto it.  
Bily, Lola and April all grinned, as they watched them try to balance eachother out, Chichi doing his bit a little clumsily but still managing, whereas Chloe was having no trouble at all.

"Why, Chloe... you´ve done this before, haven´t you?"teased Billy playfully.

"Nope. I´ve just got _natural talent_."Chloe replied, winking at the three of them in equal playfullness.

Just then, Chichi lost his balance and though waving his hands franticly, was not able to balance himself back, sending both of them splashing into the pool and making Lola, Billy and April roar in laughter.  
Though Chloe panicked a bit, Chichi had tight hold of her and easily guided the pair of them to the surface and keeping them afloat, with Chloe having her arms around his shoulders.

"So does Chichi."Lola remarked, still laughing along with everyone, even Chichi and Chloe joining in.

...

"T-this can´t be **REAL!**"exclaimed Nick angerly.

It was quite a feat for him to scream like that, even in the state of fatigue their entire group was sharing.

For the past TWO HOURS, they chased around and tried to catch their target... to no avail...

And the chasing around was certainly NOT the worst of it...

During all this time, each of the pairs tried different tactics to catch the witch doctor.  
But somehow... their target always managed to dissapear from view, a mere second before being chaught, instantly reappearing at the opposite side of the street.  
And that of course, was bound to create a few... um... _accidents_.

Nick, for instance sustained even more bumps and bruises... though the first one on the head was clearly the winner...  
But he also sustained a brilliant black-eye, courteousy of his own girlfriend, who actually didn´t mean to hit him thistime.  
They had the misfortunate plan of jumping their target from two sides at the same time, and when the target dissapeared into thin-air again, Nick found himself on the recieving end of Mia´s fist, almost knocking him out.  
And though Mia apologized franticly for it, Nick couldn´t help but point out, that she had one really MEAN hook...

Tex and Archie also failed in all their plan - using a rope and a net in Tex´s tool-kit to try and capture their target.  
The pair of them managed to capture a mail-box, a lamp, a trashbin (overturning it in the process), a street-cat that scratched Archie´s hands and face all over when he tried to distangle it from the net, and of course... _eachother_.

As for Wiseman... he spent more than half of his time, trying to calm Candy down.  
Candy was jumping and shrieking at almost any sign or sound around, cluthing and several times even jumping at her boyfriend from behind in panic.  
This caused Wiseman to fall on the ground more often than not... and in one case, she made him lose his balance so much, that the pair of them fell (Wisey face-first) into a large dumpster filled with trash.

Completly exhausted and out of breath... they all managed to regroup not far from Splashland´s front door.

"See? I... I told you - dark powers are at work! The witch doctor cast a curse on us all!"wailed Candy, shaking all over and sounding like she was about to cry.

"Will you shut up about that curse already?! And move over, will ya?! You stink like hell!"roared Mia, covering her nose and glaring her sister.

"D-dunno about you, Mia... but I´m starting to believe, that there _is _something to it..."said Archie, shaking a bit.

"Yeah... that _bamboonbooni _magic or something..."nodded Tex.

"Don´t you two start too! For the last time - there IS NO MAGIC!"roared Mia, looking around.

"The blondie is right - this HAS to have a logical explanation."said Nick, completly on his girlfriend´s side.

Wiseman pulled off his fake beard and hat and shook his head.

"The question is... how in the world could that crazy criminal move around and dissapear so fast!"he said, looking around the foggy street.

"Its magic - I tell you! The witch doctor´s evil magic!"

Candy´s wail, followed by Mia´s remark started up a full-blown panicked argument among the group, with all of them inventing theories that were each as unlikely as the next.

Watching them from the nearby bushes at the side of Splashland, Phil and Lily (also regrouping) shared identical grins.

"I´d say mission accomplished."said Phil, grinning as he watched the Brotherhood bicker.

Lily nodded, sharing a high-five with him. Picking up the walkie-talkie, she reported as much to Chichi.

"_Excellent work, you two. We´re all finished in here, so there´s just one more thing now... where is the Brotherhood?_"

"In front of the main door."Lily answered, peeking around the corner for good measure... though unneccessarily, because their bickering answered that easily.

"_All right. Lure them away from there quickly. The people should be coming out soon._"

Phil instantly grabbed the remote for his skateboard-dummy, and peeked around the corner to manoovre it best, but...

"Huh? What gives?"he muttered, looking around to see, that his skateboard remained in place.

Lily approached it to check, while Phil send out command after command trough his remote...  
The skateboard however didn´t move.

"The wheels seem to be okay, so does everything else..."noted Lily, still looking around.

Phil instantly knew what was wrong.

"The batteries are dead."he reasoned, frowning at the remote in his hands.

"Not that surprising, though - given the two hour chase we went trough..."said Lily, nodding knowingly.

Standing up, she reached for the place, where she left _her _remote control.  
Taking it into her hands, she pointed it at the second skateboard-dummy, which was standing not far from Phil´s.  
However...

"No way..."she muttered, pressing the little buttons on it.

_Her _skateboard remained motionless as well!

"This can´t be happening... _both _of our dummies ran out of juice?!"lamented Phil, slapping a hand on his forehead.

"What now? You wouldn´t happen to have some spare batteries would you?"Lily asked, but Phil´s apologetic look said it all.

"Me and Chichi didn´t think they´d run out. Not so soon... I mean... the batteries were supposed to last a lot longer, and we didn´t think the Brotherhood would actually hold out this long..."

Lily wasn´t able to surpress a teasing grin.

"So, our _little guy _and the _devious genius _kinda miscalculated..."she said teasingly, making him go red with embaressment.

Giggling at the sight, she reached and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Well, we´ll just have to improvise then. Hope you´re up for a good run."she said grinningly, tilting her head towards the skateboards.

Phil grinned back, getting the idea and instantly moved towards one of the skateboards, ready to unfasten the cardboard dummy from it.

But suddenly...

"Oh no! The doors are opening!"exclaimed Archie.

"Everybody - TAKE COVER!"roared Wiseman.

To Phil and Lily´s horror, the Brotherhood started to run towards THEM!  
Taking the remotes into her hands, Lily jumped into the nearby bushes.  
Immediately followed by Phil, who had just barely managed to pull the two skateboards into the bushes too.

On the ground, lying on their bellies in the bushes, the pair of them managed to peek out from it, carefully hidden from view.  
Almost immediately, each had to manoovre their hand to their nose, because unlike Wiseman who was peeking out in the very front of the corner, Candy was almost the last on their pile.  
And Mia was right - she really stank terribly!

"Look at that... the people are exiting. That means that today´s event is over."noted Archie.

"_Duh_, Einstein!"said Mia.

"But you know what this means...?"asked Wiseman, a happy note in his voice.

"Even if we failed to catch that criminal witch doctor... we still managed to keep him out of Splashland!"

The Brotherhood, Mia and Candy all shared a cheer in the wake of their victory.

Phil and Lily breathed a sigh of relief, but not risking whispering anything to one another, being far too close to their advesaries right now.  
But both knew, that if the Brotherhood _believed _they´d won by keeping Miles away from Splashland, then its really "_mission accomplished_" for now.  
There was no need for improvising anymore...

"**WHAAAAT?!**"Nick´s voice roared so loudly, that it made all celebrations stop, and damn near made Phil and Lily jump in their hiding place.

With a little difficulty, Phil and Lily looked at eachother in alarm, as they saw the Brotherhood gang up at the corner again.  
The street infront of Splashland was suddenly rich with cheers, coming no doubt from the exiting people.

"Impossible!"breated Tex.

"This can´t be real!"exclaimed Mia.

"T-t-that... **criminal!**"exclaimed Wiseman.

"Its magic, I tell you!"shrieked Candy, repeating herself yet again.

The Brotherhood instantly scrambled from their hiding place, Mia dragging her sister along, and were making their way towards the crowd.

Phil and Lily instantly took their chance and scrambled from the bushes, moving as close as possible to get a better view of what´s going on.  
To their horror, they saw what made all these people cheer so loudly...

Miles was standing at the Splashland´s open door, still in his witch doctor disguise and taking extravagant bows to his cheering audience.

"See ya tommorow, ladies and gents... be sure to prepare your dollars and cents... starting tommorow and you bet that its true... _Big Mani _bring ton of cool things for you..."

The crowd, regardless of their age, cheered and applauded like crazy.  
With a last giant bow to the crowd, Miles started to wave his hand in a gesture of farewell, though still not moving away from the door.

The crowd however turned and started to leave.  
As the people passed, Lily quickly dragged Phil back to the corner, they occupied previously.  
Taking their binoculars out for good measure, both of them watched, as the Brotherhood stayed on their spot, waiting for all the people to leave.

"We gotta do something, Lil..."breathed Phil, seeing that Miles was still at the door.

"I know... but what?"she replied in concern.

As soon as the people were in a safe distance away, dissapearing into the fog, the Brotherhood moved in as one.

"HALT!"roared Nick, being among the first to reach Miles, along with Wiseman and Mia.

Miles took one look at them, and positively exploded in laughter.

"What are YOU laughing at?!"exclaimed Nick, blowing some of his wig´s hair from his eyes.

"You´ve really gone too far thistime!"exclaimed Mia.

"YOU´RE UNDER ARREST!"roared Wiseman, pulling out his baton and handcuffs.

Miles however grinned and reached into his disguise.

"Am I now...?"he challenged, completly unafraid even as Nick, Mia and Wiseman advanced on him slowly with Tex, Archie and Candy right behind them.

"Well guess what... STICK ´EM UP!"roared Miles, pulling something out of his disguise and pointing it on the Brotherhood.

This caused them all to jump back, and Candy instantly let out such a terrified scream, that Phil and Lily actually thought, that Miles had pulled a _gun _from his costume.  
Quickly directing their binoculars at Miles, the two teens found that it was certainly not the case.  
No... what Miles held in his hand was no gun... but a...

"Its - its... _its a DOLL!_"shrieked Candy hystericly, taking a further step back.

"A... a _magic _doll!"added Archie, only making her shriek again.

"And... and it looks just like... ME!"breathed Wiseman, looking at it and taking a step back.

Miles´ grin became even more pronounced.

"You betcha Wisey-guysey... _Big Mani _now HAVE **POWER!**"he said dramaticly, even raising his hands into the air as if he were an all-powerful wizard.

Wiseman looked absolutely stunned, while Tex, Archie and especially Candy did nothing to hide their fright.

"So...so... everything that happened here tonight..."he stuttered, taking another step back.

Miles cracked an evil-smile.

"Yeeeeessss... as long as _Big Mani _have this doll... Wisey be in my power... hahahaha..."

Another of Miles´ smoke-bombs he used yesterday exploded and covered Splashland´s enterance in smoke.  
Miles´laughs were still echoing, sounding further and further and... when the smoke cleared...

"D-dissapeared! Just like in the fog!"exclaimed Tex, sounding very scared now.

"My... my worst fears became true..."whimpered Candy, looking at her boyfriend and shaking all over.

"F-Freddie... you... you were _cursed_...!"

Wiseman looked frozen for a few moments before he fell to the ground like a sack of potatos, fainting at the prospect.

...


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Mondays were ussually a very dull experience in Beauvillage.  
Under normal circumstances that is...

Dispite the fact, that the weekend´s fog once more gave way to heavy showers, things in Beauvillage were very lively indeed.  
It was a measure of success for the _Autumn Festival_... the people were really in a state of utter enthusiasm and optimism.

And naturally, the biggest talk of the town was noneother than its resident Witch doctor.

Actually... talk of the town was kind of an understatement.  
It seemed like almost every single citizen of Beauvillage was talking about it.  
Many - mainly the young ones - could be seen imitating him at one point or another...  
There were even several witch doctor jokes going around town.

And in both schools - Elementary and High - it became apparent just how big a hit _Wana Mani _had become.  
There wasn´t a class in both schools, that wouldn´t chant it at least once a day.

And there were a few... unexpected surprises in the class as well.  
Like in Mrs Starchy´s Geography class.

"_Too much!_"exclaimed Chichi, as Mrs Starchy finished testing him as she promised.

While April, Chloe and Phil rejoiced, the rest of the class couldn´t hide their astonishment. Afterall... since when did Chichi Tofu score an "_**A**_" in Geography class?!

To even greater surprise, the "_terror of Beauvillage Elementary_" didn´t give them any homework, or even shout at them either...  
For perhaps the first time in a very, VERY long time... Mildred Starchy actually was in a good mood in school.  
She even made a small joke, before she exited the classroom - something that even made Archie´s jaw drop.

Nick, Tex, Archie and Mia remained at their desks and only watched in disbelief, as most of the class moved to the back, where Chichi fist-bumped with his best friend and gave a bear-hug to both April and Chloe.

"You two are the best."he breathed, letting go of Chloe who promtly giggled and ruffled his blonde hair.

"You bet we are, _C-man_..."she said with a wink.

"What are you talking about?"asked Oliver, who did not like the sight one bit.

"Yeah... and Chichi... how on Earth did you do that?! Get an "_A_"...?"added Liam, giving voice to the question that the entire class was pondering.

"Was it... you know... _magic_?"asked Abbygail.

The question made Chichi, April, Phil and Chloe erupt with laughter.

"Sure it was."chortled Chichi, making his classmates (especially Tex and Archie) gasp.

"The magic of friendship."nodded Chloe happily.

The foursome shared another laugh at the puzzled expressions on everyone´s face.

"Me and Chloe stayed over at Chichi´s yesterday and tutored him."explained April.

"Waaay until midnight... wasn´t easy, but it was worth it."Chloe smirked, poking Chichi´s ribs with her elbow playfully.

The statement made all of the class gasp.

"Y-you mean... you´ve slept over _at the Tofus?!_"asked Oliver, looking at Chloe in sheer disbelief.

"Sure. April sleeps over quite frequently... and Mom Tofu said, that there is more than enough room."Chloe started, but was unable to finish because several of their classmates moved forward and positively started to bombard her with questions.

Oliver took a step back and just watched, almost unable to believe it.

He shared an incredulous look with Liam and Peter, who just shrugged at him.  
Snorting in anger, her turned his gaze at Chichi and Phil, who were packing their school-things into their bags and shot a glare at the blonde.  
He was seriously starting to get on his nerves lately...

But thistime... the other classmates were less interested in the Tofus, than in _Big Mani_...

"And did you see, what he prepared for today?"asked Alice, the other classmates instantly echoed the question with bright interest, looking at Chichi, April and Phil too.

For some reason, Chichi´s face adopted a mild, troubled look.  
But April and Chloe quickly answered brightly.

"He said, it was secret..."started April.

"But Mom Tofu and Ms Bee said something about spirits..."finished Chloe.

"**SPIRITS?!**"roared the entire class.

The entire class started to chatter excitedly, already looking forward to today´s festival event.

In all the excitement, no one noticed Tex and Archie run out of the classroom, with Nick and Mia hot on their heels.

...

Pracicly racing to the Beauvillage Police Station trough the heavy rain, Mia and the three members of the Brotherhood were soaking wet.  
None of them paid any attention to it though.  
Instead they practicly raced to Detective Wiseman´s office.

"Brother Fred! Brother Fred! Emergency...!"roared Archie, opening the door and running inside along with the rest of them.

"FREDDIE!"exclaimed another voice in the room and a massive thud could be heared.

Candy instantly hurried from the main desk, towards her boyfriend who must have been standing on a chair near the door, reaching for something when Archie barged in.

"What are you doing here?!"asked Mia, looking at her sister while pulling off her soaked jacket.

"I´ve come to convince Freddie to leave the case alone, now that the evil witch doctor has cursed him."Candy answered, as she helped Wiseman rise from the ground.

"Urgh! I TOLD you... there IS NO..."started Mia, already getting angry, but Wiseman stood up and raised his hand in a halt.

"And _I´ve _just been telling her, that there is absolutely NO way, I could _ever _walk away from this case."

Wiseman´s statement was met with an instant cheer from Tex and Archie, as well as an aprooving nod from Nick.

"Wahoo! We knew you´d never do that, brother Fred."exclaimed Archie happily.

"Give us five."exclaimed Tex cheerfully.

Mia rolled her eyes and sighed in exaspiration, as instead of actually sharing a hi-five, the four members of the Brotherhood made a sallute and exclaimed "_Five_".

"_Oh, brother_..."she breathed to no one in particular.

Dusting himself a bit, Wiseman cleared his throat.

"As I was just explaining to Candy, this case is too special to walk away from. It is my _very first case_."

"WHAT?!"everyone exclaimed, looking at Wiseman in surprise.

Wiseman nodded, took the up-turned chair from the floor, stood on it and reached into a small storage space above the door, pulling out a box.

Everyone quickly gathered around Wisey´s table, looking at him with absolute attention.

"Yes indeed. My first ever case. A case, that comes back each and every year, and its one I have _never _been able to solve..."he said dramaticly, opening the box.

Everyone looked inside and saw that there were quite a few objects inside.  
A few looked like toys, but some were curious - a small box of crayons, something that looked like an old sticker-album, a little case of bubblegum, a sling-shot, a brocken photocamera, a smashed little flashlight and a big folder, filled to bursting with papers.

Pulling out the folder, Wiseman placed it on the table and everyone could see, that the folder was titled in crayons, obviously written by a child´s hand.

"The... November... case...?"read Candy with some difficulty, while everyone else looked at Wiseman who nodded.

"My case file. But you see... this is more that just an any old case - its a _war_! A war that started in my very first year in elementary school..."

The entire gang started to go over the case-file, opening the folder. Almost instantly, Candy let out a girlish squeal.

"Oh my... Freddie... that´s _you?_"she asked, looking at a school photo - one that was obviously from the first year of elementary school, pointing to a black-haired boy in the front, smiling radiantly and standing among a group of girls.

"Wow... "breathed Tex.

"Cool. You were really popular with the girls even then, brother Fred..."said Archie.

Wiseman coughed, going red in the face.

"Um... that´s not me. Here... _that´s _me."he said, pointing to the very right of the line, completly in the back.

The others directed their gaze, seeing a rather short boy; dressed in a dark-blue vest with red stripes, he had short black hair and there was a visible pout on his plumb face.

There was a small moment of silence, as everyone looked at the old photo and Wiseman´s face was steadily growing redder and redder.

"Um... well... _obviously _a little charmer."muttered Mia, breaking the awkward silence.

Candy quickly grabbed her boyfriend in a hug.

"Don´t worry... you were cute too."she cooed consilingly, while her little sister slapped her forehead in responce.

Quickly recovering himself, Wiseman pointed on the other side of the picture.

"And here... we have the _criminal _himself..."

There, on the very left side was a shabbily dressed boy in pale-blue trousers, a black-striped green shirt, likewise with jet-black hair.  
But unlike little Wiseman, this boy´s hair was longer and there was a giant toothy grin plastered on his face, and had his arm around another boy´s shoulder - a nerdy looking boy with big glasses and scruffy ginger hair.

"_That´s _Miles?!"breathed Nick, instantly recodnizing the giant grin, that obviously hadn´t changed in all these years.

"That´s him alright. And that was the year, when everything began..."muttered Wiseman darkly.

For the next half an hour, the group went over the entire file, with Wiseman pacing around and filling them in on all the details.  
Each and every year was marked by some crackpot scheme from Miles - a scheme designed to make as much money as possible.

True... the first ones were fairly childish - quite understandable from a little preteen...  
But each year, the schemes intensified and grew wackier - Wiseman even _named _each one.  
So did the number of Miles´ "_accomplices_". But for the most part, Miles seemed to have pulled his schemes on his own.  
Nevertheless, the Brotherhood quickly realized, that there were a few names that repeated themselves there too: _Roger _(the nerdy-looking kid, who Wiseman explained was Miles´ best friend), _Melanie _(but from the file, she seemed to be a neutral party) and "_that strange man_" (which Wiseman explained was the owner of the orphanage, Miles grew up in).

They went trough several strange cases like _The Scavenger Hunt_ \- resulting in quite a collection of garbage from the local dump...  
Or _The Ice Cream incident_ \- making one hell of a mess in the school´s cafeteria...  
_The Collector case _\- where Miles and his accomplices caused a virtual mania in the school by making their own sticker album, which (as Wiseman showed them with his evidence copy) was actually quite impressive for 9 year old kids... except that it caused a massive fight among the boys in classes... a fight, that even Miles and Wisey weren´t spared of...  
Or even worse, _The Musicial Catastrophe _\- as Miles and a few of his friends staged their very first concert in their very last year of Elementary school, perfectly copying the style of _Gentleboys_... a popular boyband from their rival school...  
And though the girls in their school were actually on cloud-nine, the same could not be said about _Gentleboys_, when they got wind of it.

"... needless to say, that the _Gentleboys _were not so gentle afterall."sighed Wiseman, still remembering the ordeal.

Nick, Tex, Archie, Mia and Candy only looked at eachother in wonder, simply unable to believe all these stunts.  
In fact... Mia would not even have believed it, if not for all the notes, photographs and various pieces of evidence from these incidents.

"And this one...? The first year of High School...? _The Great Grilled Cheese caper_...?"read Tex, going over a rather long part of the file, fully supplied with photographs.

Pacing around the office, Wiseman suddenly shuddered.

"Oh... that was a sticky situation. But the worst thing was, I stank like crazy for a week. I had to sleep with open windows all week, and Father grounded me for a month."

Candy instantly ran to him, grabbing him in a bear hug.

"My poor Freddie..."she cooed.

Mia once again mimed vomitting, and moved closer to Nick who was reading the file thoroughly.  
She instantly noticed, that Nick seemed to be up to something.

"I don´t understand one thing... these schemes always went on on the second week of November. Most either happening or ending on 10th November. _Why? _I mean... what´s so special about that date...?"

Wiseman, still in Candy´s hug suddenly started to cough.

"N-nothing. Absolutely nothing, brother Nick. Nothing importaint whatsoever..."he said hastily.

"Brother Fred is right. The importaint thing is, that thistime he´s clearly outdone himself."Archie piped up.

"Right. Learning evil witch doctor magic and unleashing it on Beauvillage... not to mention you too!"added Candy, gripping Wiseman even tighter.

"And now, we have to do something before he unleashes these spirits of his on our town."nodded Tex, already brimming with resolve.

Wiseman smiled as he stepped out of his girlfriend´s embrace, immediately adopting a thoughtful expression.

"But how?! I mean... how do we fight this... magic of his...?"

Nick and Mia immediately drew breath, but before they could utter a single word, Tex jumped up.

"I think I know! Its time to take _Operation Inquisitor _to a new level!"

Wiseman boomed cheerfully, at once moving towards Tex and clapping him on the shoulder.

"I knew I could count on you - all of you. Well then, brother Tex... tell us this way to finally stop this hooligan!"

Tex of course wasted no time at all. He started to explain his plan, with Archie, Candy and Wiseman positively hanging on every word.  
So much in fact, that not one of them noticed that Nick and Mia were not joining in.

Mia watched the whole scene with bemusement for a while, but after a few seconds, looked at Nick in surprise... finding that he was still looking at the case-file.

"What´s up, _long-nose_?"she asked, thistime using the nickname with affection... especially when seeing him scratching it out of habit - a habit that signified that he was in deep thought.

"You know, _blondie_... I get the feeling, that I´m on to a _real _clue."he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the date; 10th November.

...

The Auditorium looked absolutely incredible.  
Anyone who would enter within the next hour will be positively convinced, that they have just walked straight into a witch-doctor movie...

Wooden statues (each with funny-looking faces) were placed randomly around the entire place - some medium-sized, but others postively huge.  
Flowers-rings were hung from the large cieling, just the same way they were hung last time.  
But they were definitely not the only pieces of flora in the auditorium. The entire room was also decorated with exotic-looking flowers and ferns... and there were even simple bamboo-torches around, their flames only furthering the image of a tribal village.  
Other decorations included "ceremonial staffs" decorated with feathers or ribbons... large, brightly colored patterned rugs that were hanging from some of the walls and there was even a totem-pole of sorts right in the middle of the Auditorium´s stage, along with ceremonial drums and several other musical instruments.

"W-wow..."was all that Lola, completly at a loss for words managed to breathe out, looking at the sight of the place.

Billy, Phil and Lily were also in a similar state; all three could barely believe their eyes.

"Incredible..."muttered Phil, shaking his head in awe.

"To think that Miles and the elders managed to do this in a _single morning_..."breathed Billy, imagining the ammount of workload it must´ve took to prepare all this.

"Oh, we didn´t do that much, sweet seedlings."came Mom´s voice from behind.

"Miles did almost all of it."came Buba´s voice.

The moment, the teens turned around, Lola almost jumped.  
Mom, Bee and Buba approached them, but while Buba was dressed in a rather simple dress that could be considered normal, Mom and Bee were a completly different story.  
Bee had her brilliant-red hair in a rather extravagant style; she had several braids tied with colorful ribbons, but that was nothing compared to the strange headpiece she was wearing...  
The same one MOM was wearing too - a rather large headband decorated with a great ammount of flowers, leaves and colorful feathers. Having a strange face-like symbol in the middle, the headpieces were quite large, and obviously bigger than their heads.  
But this was just the start - both women were dressed in long, sleeveless patterned dresses; Mom in bright-green and Bee in flaming-red with different patterns sown in yellow color.  
A few long bead-necklaces around their necks, they also had arm-bands around their wrists; a bird´s feather on one, a strange little rag-doll hanging on the other.  
And to add to the image, both of them had some symbols painted on them - no doubt by Pop´s infamous eco-body-paint, made from various fruits.

"M-M-MOOOM! What is that... _dress _supposed to be?!"exclaimed Lola, feeling herself almost faint with embaressment.

Mom fixed the young ones a radiant smile.

"Rather neat, isn´t it? We made them together with Bee for this special occassion."

Buba fixed her daughter and her best friend a mild frown, and shot her granddaughter a small sympathetic look.  
Lola once more took a good look at the pair of them, her face turning white.

"N-neat?!"she breathed, shaking her head.

"Yes, indeed. One has to look his best, when contacting the spirits."exclaimed Bee, throwing her arms into the air energeticly, starting to jump around with Mom Tofu - the pair cheering like schoolgirls.

Billy scooted closer to Lola, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, as Lola smacked her forehead.

"Spirits?! Its the _live-people _we have to worry about."she moaned, already picturing the reactions that particular dress might cause.

Though the other teens totally agreed with that statement, the elders did not seem to notice - Mom and Bee being too chaught up in their happiness of the upcoming _seance with the spirits_.

"The spirits are on our side today."came Pop´s overjoyed voice.

The teens goaned instantly - apparently it wasn´t just Mom and Bee, who got into the... um... _spirit_.  
Pop and Ralph were also dressed for the occasion - wearing short grey pants, sleeveless flannel shirts and simple shoes.  
Quite like Mom and Bee, they too were decorated - hand-woven wristbands, a simple cloth tied around their right arms, the flannel shirts were open and would expose their naked chests if not for the rather impressive collection of bead-necklaces.  
Unlike the women, they only had simple headbands on their foreheads, but quite like them they had lines painted on their faces.

"But they´re definitely NOT on _ours_...!"goaned Lola, but once more only the other teens could hear her, for the adults were chatting animatedly.

"Well... maybe it won´t be so bad... the people really like this Witch Doctor thing."said Phil, trying to be optimistic.

Lily also nodded smilingly and even Billy smiled gently, affirming the claim.  
Chichi however kept looking at the elders, then fixed his sight on everything around and it looked like he couldn´t keep the frown from his face.  
Lola could instantly tell, that THAT look was certainly no good news.

"I have a small feeling... that things are about to get out of hand..."he muttered to no one in particular, but Lola instantly felt her dread rise.

"We´re all set."came Beth Hubbub´s voice from the side of the room, appearing from behind one of the two large tent-like objects that were set at the sides of the room.

The teen´s jaws dropped as one. Lola was instantly sure, that her little brother was absolutely correct about the situation.

Beth and Titus (whom even the elders wouldn´t believe of) were dressed in costumes of their own.  
Beth was wearing her favourite witch´s costume (the one she brings out every halloween) but it was up-graded by several of the necklaces and ornaments that were obviously made by Mom and Bee. To cap it all, she was holding one of the wooden staffs with a funny-looking face on its upper tip - clearly borrowed from Miles.  
Titus was dressed in a costume that made him almost look like the great fictional adventurer _Gary Bones_... but he too had the same necklaces around his neck, and even two lines of body paint on each cheek.

Billy´s hand went to his forehead, the instant he looked at his parents.

"Y-you too...?"he moaned, as his parents came to them.

"Well, we also want to join in on the fun."explained Beth happily.

"Right. You kids like to have your fun with costumes, so why can´t your old man have his fun too?"said Titus, jovially clapping his son´s back.

Billy´s only responce was a goan, obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

"And you can _bet_, that there will be lots of fun aaaall around."came Miles´ voice.

Everyone turned to him, but to their surprise Miles was not wearing his witch doctor costume yet. Instead he was cassually dressed in simple overalls.

"Just finished all the preparations, huh Miles?"inquired Chichi dryly, answering everyone´s question about his appearance instantly.

Miles grinned.

"You bet your baby-blue eyes, genius-boy. I promised the folks of Beauvillage a ton of surprises for today, didn´t I?"

The elders all smiled back at Miles, praising all the work he had done, while the teens looked around pondering just what kind of surprise he had prepared.

"Oh, actually I didn´t do all of this myself. I called in an old friend to help."he said grinningly, pointing right behind their backs.

The entire group turned and gasped.  
April actually jumped at Chichi, exclaiming "_Ghost!_" and nearly brought him to the ground.  
Lola and Lily also let out small shrieks.

Standing right behind the lot of them, as though appearing from thin-air was a figure, dressed in a pure-white cloak with a similarly white mask - a simple one, wearing a smile.

Bee and Mom let out amazed wails instantly looking between the caped figure and Miles.

"M-MILES! YOU DID IT ALREADY?!"exclaimed Mom.

"YOU CALLED DOWN THE MESSANGER OF THE GREAT ONENESS!"roared Bee in absolute happiness, instantly throwing her arms around Miles´ neck and starting to do a happy-dance.

Pop and Buba took an uncertain step forward, positively awed, while Beth and Titus were just glued on the spot.  
Mom however beat both of them to the strange figure.

"Oh, honored messanger of the Great Oneness... be welcome to our humble little Auditorium..."she welcomed warmly, spreading her arms wide and doing a small bow.

Both the white figure, as well as Miles snickered.

"Hate to break it to ya´ folks... but I´m no ghost."said the figure, removing his mask.

"N-no ghost...?"breathed April, still clutching Chichi for dear-life.

"A-April... need... oxygen!"choked Chichi, whose face was starting to turn blue.

Gasping, she released him at once, allowing him to catch his much needed breath.

The others all looked at the face of the white-cloaked person.  
Wearing a smile just like the one on the mask, the young man (looking in his late teens) had a pleasant face, short black hair and bright green eyes.

Lola and Lily gasped, recodnizing the face instantly.

"Y-you´re _Martin the Incredible_..."breathed Lily in even bigger awe, as if it _were _a ghost.

"WHO?"asked most of the elders, as well as the boys, while April instantly got star-eyed.

"A great young illusionist from Cygnuville."breathed Lola, who like the other girls heared of his exploits as well as watched his magic show on TV just few weeks ago.

"You bet. Pleased to meet you all. Miles told me so much about you."he said, bowing his head gallantly.

Everyone´s head snapped back to Miles, who laughed jovially.

"Me and Marty go waaaaay back."he said, waving his hand airly.

"Grew up in the same orphanage."nodded Martin, sharing a fist-bump with Miles.

Lola´s jaw actually dropped, and even Chichi seemed greatly surprised by the fact. Miles took advantage of the silent moment to reach him and place a familiar arm around his shoulder.

"Yup. And he was quite the magician all those years ago. Taught me a few magic tricks over the years."

As if to prove his point, Miles twisted his free hand up and down, suddenly producing a single flower seemingly out of nowhere. A flower, he gratiously offered, with a gallant bow and a charming smile to a blushing Lily.  
Lola, Chichi, April, Billy now knew, where did the few tricks, Miles was famous for came from. And a part of them was still trying to process it...

"So... Marty will be making a few of his magic tricks today...?"asked Pop, trying to make sence of Miles´ guest.

Still with an arm around his friend´s shoulders, Miles shot all of them his biggest grin.

"You betcha, Pops... Thanks to Marty, we´ll give Beauvillage a spiritual seance they´ll never forget."

Chichi winced and slowly fixed a small looks at Mom, Pop and Buba, who looked taken aback by this.  
Lola also could sence trouble...  
Billy too - and the fact, that his parents did not look at all surprised only affirmed that feeling.

"B-but Miles... we thought, that we would actually be summoning spirits here..."said Mom; a half-confused and half-hurt note to her voice.

"Oh, we will, Vi."affirmed Beth, shaking a bit with her wooden staff - giving out a small rattle of it.

"You bet. The spirits of _greed_... right, Miles?"added Titus, and judging by his grin, he was already picturing the profit.

Lola and Billy goaned, while Chichi fixed Miles a mild glare.  
Miles however took no note of it and laughed an "evil-laugh".

"You bet, Titus-old-man... Today, Big Mani become Beauvillage´s _rich-doctor_."

Mom, Pop, Buba and Bee all looked at eachother; each now realizing the purpose of this spiritual seance, and each visibly hurt by the fact.  
Lola shared a significant look with her boyfriend, who shot his parents an exaspirated one a mere moment later.  
Phil and Lily shared a worried look, while Chichi shot Miles a glare - something, the young blonde did very rarely.  
Miles however seemed to be in too good a mood to notice.

"All righty. Let´s get this show on the road. Yaaay! Big Mani make big money!"he roared, jumping into the air and making a mad dash to the podium.

Martin heaved a long sigh, shaking his head.

"Just like every year... I only hope, that thistime things won´t get so wacky..."he said, more to himself than anyone else.

He gave everyone a friendly wave, and also started to make his way to the podium, with Beth and Titus not far behind, leaving the rest of them in a moment of uncomfortable silence.  
Mom, Pop, Bee and Buba shared another look, and all of them nodded at eachother.

"Well... we can tell, when our help is not wanted..."noted Pop sadly.

"We´d better go then... today´s event is clearly nothing for us."nodded Buba, who normally never opposed any notion of fun.

Lola and Chichi looked at eachother and nodded.

"Right. We´re coming too."said Lola.

Chichi nodded, shifting closer to Mom who looked pleasantly surprised.

"If you´re not staying, neither are we."he said, intent on showing his solidarity - a gesture, that did not go unnoticed, nor unappretiated.

Billy shot one last look to the podium, where his parents were standing before turning back to the elders with a determined look on his face.

"Could I sleep over at your place tonight?"he asked.

Mom, Pop and Buba fixed the youngest Hubbub small smiles, clearly touched.

"Of course you can, Billy."nodded Pop.

"You know, you´re always welcome in our home, young oaktree."added Mom, smiling fondly at him.

Phil shot them all an apologetic look.

"I have to stay... since I promised Nicolette..."

The elders all nodded, but Phil also turned and winked at Chichi, who nodded in silent understanding - it was better to have a pair of eyes in here, just in case.

"I´m staying too. I´ll try and talk to my "_rich-doctor_" boyfriend."said Lily, scrowling at the podium and making it very clear, that she too does not aproove of what´s going on.

The Tofu elders nodded and with one last sad look at the podium and turned to leave.  
Lola also shot a death-glare at the podium.

"Thistime... he´s really gone too far."she growled.

Billy only nodded, reaching for her hand and gently leading her outside.

With a final nod at Phil and Lily, Chichi also turned.  
However, he could not help but cast one final look at the podium, where Miles could now be seen, fully dressed in his witch doctor costume and talking with Martin, as if giving directions.

"Hm... _just like every year_...?"he muttered to himself.  
There was something about Martin´s comment, that told him that there is more to this business than it would first appear.

...


End file.
